Crystal Frost
by FantasyBladeAncient
Summary: AU. Barry and Caitlin meet and date before the particle accelerator explodes. After the explosion, Caitlin develops her Frost powers. With the help of her friends, Caitlin works to understand what is happening to her and gain control of her powers. Then after a chance encounter with a supervillain, she decides to become a superhero while waiting for Barry to wake up from his coma.
1. First Meeting

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is an alternate universe Flash story. I got the idea for this story while reading a story where Caitlin and Barry met and dated before the particle accelerator exploded. And then when I was watching season 3, I was struck with the idea of Caitlin developing her powers and remaining good. So I decided to combine the two ideas. In this story Caitlin and Barry meet and date before the particle accelerator explosion, and then while Barry is in coma, Caitlin gets her powers and learns to control them, becoming a superhero. Her superhero costume will be the same as her Killer Frost outfit in season 3, only she will wear a light-blue frosted mask to cover her face. All for purposes of this story, she will have the ability to change her skin tone back and forth, meaning when she's using her powers fully, she will be pale-skinned with blue-eyes and white hair, while the rest of the time her skin tone, hair, and eyes will be normal.

Just to be clear, Barry will still become The Flash. It's just that Caitlin would already be a superhero herself for about four to five months before he wakes up, and has been known to the public for about two months. Then instead of becoming the main hero himself, Caitlin will start off as the main hero with The Flash becoming her partner when he wakes up. Also this will not be a straight up rewrite of the series. Some events of the show will still be included, but a lot of things will be completely rewritten. I'll also be including characters from all three seasons of the show as well as some from Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.

The major thing you need to know is that there have been three different versions of Harrison Wells in the show, one for each season. (Well four if you count the original Earth-1 Harrison Wells who appeared in a flashback episode in season 1.) For clarity's sake, I have decided that the main Harrison Wells will be the Earth-2 version. He will also have a twin brother named Henry who goes by the nickname HR, who as you guessed will be the Earth-19 version. He will be in charge of advertising and public relations at STAR Labs. Eobard Thawne, who was disguised as Wells in Season 1, will retain his real face and go by the alias of Samuel Rosen and will be Harrison's business partner.

I don't think they ever mentioned who Jesse's mother was, so I'm going to make it Tess Morgan, who was the real Earth-1 Harrison Wells' wife before the both of them were murdered by the Reverse-Flash. Also for those readers who don't watch Legends of Tomorrow, Lily Stein is Professor Stein's daughter. She only appeared briefly on The Flash in the Invasion crossover.

Finally I got the name of this story from Write-To-You's Ice Master story where Caitlin, Barry, and Cisco discuss superhero names for Caitlin. prankprincess23 originally came up with the name.

Central City- 2012

Barry Allen wandered around the bar feeling nervous. Bar hopping wasn't really his thing, but he had promised his father that he would try to get out more and meet new people, so he decided to check out the new bar called Scientific Method.

It was a new bar that had opened up only a week ago, and was designed specifically to cater to the scientists. A lot of world-renowned scientists were flocking to the city, to meet with Doctors Harrison Wells and Tess Morgan-Wells about the particle accelerator they were building. If it worked as predicted, it would provide limitless, safe, clean energy for all of Central City. People were speculating that if all went well, there would be a particle accelerator in every major city in the world within ten to fifteen years, and that had sent STAR Labs stocks skyrocketing.

But what really interested the scientists, was the potential for knowledge to be uncovered. The knowledge gained from the particle accelerator had the potential to propel the human race forward by centuries. They could gain untold knowledge about the laws of physics. But Barry pushed that out of his mind for now. The particle accelerator wasn't due to be completed for another six months to a year, so instead Barry focused on the bar around him. He had promised his father he would try to make new friends, so he would.

Ever since his mother was killed and his father went to prison, Barry had been a loner. Everyone at school knew what had happened, and having no one believe him when he said that his father didn't kill his mother was hard. The only people he was close to these days, were Joe West, his adoptive father and Iris West, his adoptive sister-slash-girl who he had a crush on since forever. But both were out of the country right now.

Joe was off somewhere in Europe, unreachable, as he was undercover helping some foreign police force. Barry didn't have all the details, but he was pursuing a criminal that he had caught in Central City a decade ago, but was extradited to France, because he killed the children of several prominent French politicians including the daughter of the French president. Then there was an earthquake near the prison, and he managed to escape and was once again killing the children of European politicians. He had no idea when Joe would be back. And Iris was also overseas having qualified for an overseas exchange program for her final year in college.

But Barry quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind and instead tried to focus on the here and now. He was here to try and make some new friends, the only problem was he was so out of practice he didn't have any idea how. He was so caught up in his thoughts, he nearly bumped into someone. The person, who was a woman, barely dodged out of the way in time, though it did cause her to spill her drink on the floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Barry said. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine." the woman said.

Barry noticed the woman was about 5'7, had chestnut brown hair and was very pretty.

"I'm so sorry." Barry said again. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"It's OK." the woman said. "No harm done."

"Still let me buy you another drink." Barry said.

"Sure." the woman replied. "I'm Caitlin Snow, by the way."

"Barry Allan." he introduced himself, as the two head back to the bar. After Barry ordered Caitlin another drink, he turned back to her. "So do you come here often?"

"Do I come here often?" Caitlin asked, half-amused, half-annoyed. "Really could you come up with a lamer pick-up line? The bar only opened a week ago."

"No, no." Barry said. "I wasn't trying a lame pick-up line. The truth is I'm not the most socially adept person and I don't have that many friends."

At this the woman laughed again. "I'm not either." Caitlin says. "I was never very popular in school. I was referred to as the know-it-all girl. The one who always got straight As and perfect scores on every test. I actually graduated high school at 14."

"Wow!" Barry said. "That's really impressive."

"Thank you." Caitlin replied. "Graduating high school so young, meant I had several doctorates by the time I turned 20."

"I was a bit of a nerd in high school too." Barry said. "I suppose if I really wanted to, I could have graduated high school early. But my parents wanted me to try and have a normal life as far as possible. They wanted me to try to hang around people my own age and make friends, but that didn't really work out." Barry avoided mentioning that, by parents he meant his father who was in prison, and his adoptive father who had taken him in after his own father went to prison. His father had vehemently reminded him that the first thing you did when meeting a new person was not tell them that your father was in prison for murdering your mother.

"Well I didn't make friends that easily, either." Caitlin said. "It wasn't until I started working at STAR Labs, that I made my first real friends. I actually met two other people there who had also graduated high school that young."

"You work at STAR Labs?" Barry asked. "What do you do there?"

"I'm a bio-engineer." Caitlin replied. "I work on developing cures and medicines for diseases. I'm also a trained neuro-surgeon."

"So do you know Dr. Wells?" Barry asked.

"Yes." Caitlin replied. "In fact he was the one who personally recruited me after I graduated college. He said he saw my potential and offered me a position right away. In the three years I've been there, I've been promoted several times and am now only one step away from heading my own team. In fact I just submitted an idea for a new project. If all goes well I may have my own team within the next month."

"That's really impressive." Barry says.

"So what do you do?" Caitlin asks.

"My job isn't nearly as interesting." Barry replies. "I'm a crime scene investigator for CCPD."

"Well that sounds interesting." Caitlin says. "Do you catch many bad guys?"

"Some." Barry says. "The police do most of the legwork. But my analyzing the clues left at the scenes give them new leads. My adoptive father is actually a police officer."

"So is that why you decided to become a CSI?" Caitlin asks. "To help him."

"Not exactly." Barry says. "It's kind of a long and depressing story. One I don't really want to go into."

"OK." Caitlin says. "So tell me about what you do at work."

"Well, I analyze crime scenes." Barry says. "Which you probably figured out from the job description. I look for DNA samples, fingerprints, and any other evidence that can lead to finding out who committed crimes. Just last week, using evidence I gathered off a victim, I was able to locate the area where a serial killer was hiding. The police was able to find and arrest him because of that."

"Wait, do you mean Toby Housin?" Caitlin asks.

"Yes." Barry says.

"I read about his capture in the paper." Caitlin said. "He's been murdering business men all over the country. He eluded the police in 22 states. You must be really good to manage to find him."

"I just got lucky." Barry says, then turns away, uneasy.

"What's wrong?" Caitlin asks. "You're not used to people praising you?"

"Not really." Barry says. "I work in for the police and am one of the most science-oriented people there. Sometimes while finding evidence, I go into long-winded technical explanations that no one really follows."

"I know the feeling." Caitlin says. "I don't have that problem at work for the most part, but sometimes when I go into detailed explanations about the projects I'm working on for HR, he gets a bit annoyed. He tells me I need to make it simpler for the general public to understand."

"HR?" Barry asks.

"Henry Wells." Caitlin says. "He goes by the nickname of HR."

"Oh right, Harrison Wells' twin brother." Barry says. "He's the head of marketing at STAR Labs, right?"

"Right." Caitlin says. "Well he's always telling the scientists to try to remember to speak more plainly when explaining our projects to non-scientists. The truth is with so many geniuses working at STAR LABS, it's easy to forget sometimes that not everyone holds multiple doctorates and can't follow us when we go into long-winded scientific explanations."

"Yeah I need to try and remember that too." Barry says. "At least most of your coworkers are scientists and will understand what you say, but I work mainly with cops who get real annoyed with me when going into 'long-winded scientific explanations'."

At this Caitlin laughs. "Well since you're acquainted with so many non-scientists, what do they think of the particle accelerator?" she asks. "There are mixed reports on the news shows I watch, so what do the people you work with think of it?"

"Well, a lot of the officers are excited about it, and if all the talk about it providing unlimited clean energy is true and that every major city in the world would want to build one then it would bring a lot of revenue to our city, as Central City would be the hub of this new venture like Dr. Wells and Dr. Morgan have repeatedly stated their intention to keep Central City of this new venture." Barry says. "But they're also concerned."

"About what?" Caitlin asks.

"Well, it is a new technology." Barry says. "And with that, there are some who fear that something could go wrong and cause a catastrophe. Even if it doesn't, I'm sure you're aware that there have already been some major protests outside STAR Labs. They're small for now, but they'll probably really intensify when the accelerator gets closer to coming online. That leads to the increased chance of violence. And the protests may not stop even after it goes online, with people fearing that even though it was working so far, something still could go horribly wrong."

"I know." Caitlin says. "All the employees at the lab have had meetings with security about the potential for violence."

Then Caitlin pauses for a moment. "But still we're at a bar, we're supposed to be having fun." Caitlin says, taking a sip of her drink. "The truth is, I haven't had a night out in ages. A few of my friends from work practically forced me to come here. They told me to come out, relax, forget about work, drink, and maybe pick up a handsome guy to have meaningless sex with."

At this Barry starts to choke on the sip of the drink he had taken.

"Um, I didn't mean you." Caitlin says, blushing bright red. "Not that I don't think that you're handsome. You definitely are. I mean if I was going to pick a handsome guy to have sex with you would definitely top the list... OK, I have had way too much to drink."

Barry quickly finishes his drink as he tries to push the thoughts that she had put in his head out of his mind. While Barry wasn't a virgin, he had had limited success with the members of the opposite sex and his longest relationship had lasted only three weeks.

"Can we just forget about that last part of the conversation and start over?" Caitlin asks.

"Sure." Barry says, trying to come up with a safer topic. "So tell me about what it was like going to college at fourteen?"

"Well, my birthday is in September, so I was only 14 for a couple of days." Caitlin says, recovering from the embarrassment of what she had just said. "I suppose the distinction doesn't matter that much, but when I actually was 14-15, it seemed like a bigger deal. But anyway, college wasn't as bad as high school. It was an ivy league school, and I was the youngest one there. Most of the students were impressed that I had managed to get there so young. I even made a couple of friends. I wasn't allowed to any of the parties, though, so that sucked. But occasionally a couple of the women I dormed with took me out to suitable places to party."

With that Caitlin and Barry spent the next couple of hours talking about their college experiences.

Both Barry and Caitlin had a couple more drinks to relax them. Caitlin having already had a few before meeting Barry, was a bit tipsy upon standing up. "Wo. Now I know I definitely had too many." she said.

"Are you OK?" Barry asks.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Caitlin says. "Watch my purse for me."

"Sure thing." Barry says just before she walks off.

A few minutes later, Caitlin returned and looked at her watch. "Crap, it's already past midnight. It's a good thing tomorrow or actually today is Sunday, so I don't have to go to work."

"I already ordered a taxi." Barry says. "Apparently the bar here gives you the option to order one while paying your bill as a means to discourage drunk driving. If you don't live in the opposite direction of my place, we could share it."

Caitlin looks around and sees her co-workers in the distance. "No, I see my friends over there." Caitlin says. "We brought a designated driver, so we'll be fine."

"Well, that's good." Barry replies, then gets up to leave. "It's been nice meeting you."

"It's been nice meeting you too." Caitlin says, then hands Barry a piece of paper. "This is my phone number. If you want to hang out again sometime give me a call."

"Sure, maybe I will." Barry says, and puts the piece of paper in his pocket. He then turns to leave and it was only after he had gotten in the taxi that he realized he had spent the entire night talking to a beautiful young woman without making a fool of himself and that she had actually given him her phone number.

* * *

After Caitlin said goodbye to Barry, she turned back to her friends Cisco Ramon, Lily Stein, and Tess Morgan-Wells. "Hey guys." Caitlin says. "Where were you guys? You decide to ditch me?"

"Who ditched who?" Cisco asks, teasing.

"Yeah." Lily says, smiling. "I didn't notice you looking at us at all as you talked that hottie."

At this Caitlin blushes a bit. "Come on, it's not like that." Caitlin says. "It's just that we clicked a bit."

"I think you clicked more than a bit." her boss, Tess teases. "You were talking to him for over three hours. And I also saw you slipping him a piece of paper. I assume it was your phone number."

"Oh you gave him your phone number?" Lily says. "If I were you, I'd have just taken him home. But a phone number is the next best option."

At this Caitlin blushes. "OK, so he is handsome." Caitlin says. "But I'm just not the-meet-a-guy and take-him-home-girl. I tried that once and it was a huge disaster. Besides I haven't seen you pick up any guys."

"True, but I do go on dates occasionally." Lily says. "Your last date was what a year and a half ago?"

"I've just been busy with work." Caitlin defends.

"Honey, we've all been busy with work." Tess says. "Don't use that as an excuse. My husband and I managed to build a successful multi-billion dollar tech company from scratch and still manage to find time to have and raise a daughter. We had far more work than you, and still didn't miss a single one of Jesse's school plays or softball games."

"Alright! Alright." Caitlin says, throwing her hands up in surrender. "I get you. I'll try to make more time for fun in the future."

"Yeah." Lily says, with a glint in her eye. "And maybe you'll get to have another chance with Mr. tall, dark, and handsome."

"He was pretty handsome." Caitlin says, considering. "And I found talking to him to be easy. Who knows maybe he does have boyfriend potential."

"OK, that's enough." Cisco says, throwing up his hands. "How did you rope me into coming into your girl's night out, anyway?"

"You didn't get roped in." Tess says. "You overheard us saying we needed a designated driver and you volunteered."

"Oh right." Cisco says.

"Hey don't look so down." Caitlin says. "We'll make it up to you? You're always saying you wanted to host a movie marathon? How about next week the three of us come to your apartment and you can show us some movies?"

"Sure thing." Cisco says, cheering up. "I have the perfect movie picked up. And who knows maybe you can invite that guy you met as well."

"Don't you start too." Caitlin warns him.

At this Tess laughs. "I can also invite Jesse and HR." she says.

"What about your husband?" Caitlin asks. "When is he due back in town?"

"Not for another two weeks." Tess says. "This is the longest we've been apart since we've been married. But the European press tour is vital. I wanted to go with him but one of us has to say here at all times to deal with the particle accelerator construction."

"That's brutal." Caitlin says.

"Well, Harry promised to take me on a long second honeymoon once the accelerator is online and it has been running for two weeks." Tess says.

"Yeah, but that won't be until sometime next year." Caitlin replies.

"I know." Tess says. "But other than our Christmas trip to Vermont, when everyone has off, we can't really afford to take any time off. One of the downsides of being the boss."

With that the group from STAR Labs heads off, unaware of the figure who had been watching them.

"Sorry Tess, but you'll never make it to your second honeymoon." the mystery figure says as he watches them leave. "You should enjoy Christmas with your family, because it will be your last."


	2. Lunch Date

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Flash. Also I got the title Crystal Frost came from Write-To-You's Ice Master story where Caitlin, Barry, and Cisco discuss superhero names for Caitlin. prankprincess23 originally came up with the name.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter was a bit hard for me to write. I already have a loose outline of where I want the rest of the story should go. The pre-explosion chapters shouldn't take that many chapters, but I have a lot I want to cover. Such as Barry talking with his dad, Caitlin and Barry's first official date, Barry's first meeting with the STAR Labs gang, Barry telling Caitlin about his mom's murder, and Caitlin's first meeting with Joe and Iris. This chapter is iffy for me, but I still think it came out OK. If you don't like it, just try to stick with it, the story will pick up in the next few chapters.

Following his encounter with Caitlin Snow at the bar, Barry had the next two days off of work. The first day was a rare Sunday off (he normally had to work every day of the week, just like all the other CCPD workers). So he took the opportunity to go visit his mother's grave. As usual, he told his mom everything that had happened since he last visited and that he hadn't yet made much progress on solving her murder yet, but that he would never give up. He knew that talking to the empty grave made no difference, and if his mother was indeed watching from the afterlife then she already knew everything that had happened in his life. But it helped Barry feel closer to her somehow.

After he was done with the visit, he headed into town to get some comfort food. Visiting his mother's grave always drained him. Knowing that her murderer was still out there somewhere while her husband was sitting in a cell, wrongfully convicted of the crime, always hit Barry hard whenever he visited her. Knowing that he was the only one who believed that his father hadn't killed her was even tougher. He hadn't had any contact with his other family for years, as they had all but disowned him after the trial. He didn't mind that, as the way they talked about his father after the trial was over, was horrible.

After he was done eating, he went home and went through his case files for the millionth time, hoping that some new clue would jump out at him. It never did. He then searched the internet, checking his favorite sites for news about weird crimes. The most prominent thing people were talking these days, was about a masked vigilante in Starling City wearing a green hood, who had been given an uninspired name 'The Hood'. He was running around the city, threatening and killing criminals with a bow and arrow.

That case probably had nothing to do with his mother, but it still caught his interest. "A bow and arrow, really?" he said to himself. Then he read an article stating that there had allegedly been copycat murders by another man, using a bow and arrow. It said allegedly, because a police detective had reportedly been contacted by the vigilante saying he wasn't responsible for those murders.

"OK, that is just too bizarre." Barry was half-tempted to go to Starling and offer his help in catching this guy, as this case sounded way more interesting than any of the cases he normally got. But as he read on, he found that the vigilante, whoever he was, had also saved several lives. Barry then shrugged, and went on to search for other cases that may help in his search. After all the green hooded man called 'The Hood' wasn't his problem.

He searched for a few more hours, but he didn't find anything new, aside from a man in an Artic research station who had claimed that a man moving too fast to see, had been fiddling with some satellite relay controls. But the other members of his crew hadn't seen anything and didn't find anything wrong with the station, and they assumed he was just hallucinating from being out there so long.

Barry wanted to ask the man more questions, but his name hadn't been released and Barry definitely didn't have the money or the resources to go to Antarctica on something that he even he thought would probably turn out to be a wild goose chase. Discouraged, he shut off his computer and went to bed.

He woke up the next morning feeling a bit refreshed. He didn't feel like doing more fruitless searches today, so he decided to play some video games until the inevitable call for him to go to work came. He was a bit surprised at 11' o'clock to see that no call had came in. Whenever he technically had Monday off in the past, there would always be some kind of call for him to go to a crime scene. Some type of robbery or murder would have occurred in an office or workplace that was closed for the weekend, and only discovered on Monday when everyone came into the office. But nothing had happened today.

He decided to head into town and grab some lunch, when he paused. He still had Caitlin Snow's number from the other night. He paused for a moment, unsure of what to do. With Iris and Joe both out of the country, he didn't really have anyone he was really close to. He knew a lot of people on the force, and some he got along with some better than others, but he couldn't say he was really friends with any of them. And it had been a long time since he had really clicked with someone.

He hesitated for a moment, and then dialed Caitlin's number. His call went straight to voice mail. "Hey Caitlin. This is Barry. Barry Allan, from the bar the other night. If you take your lunch break at noon I was wondering if you'd like to meet up at Big Belly Burger for lunch? If you don't get this message before one, then how about tomorrow? Bye."

With that Barry headed out, feeling both a bit nervous and a bit excited.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Caitlin was finishing up her morning's work and then got up from the desk in the lab and stretched her legs. Caitlin looked at her watch, as Lily also got up from her station.

"Ready for lunch?" she asks.

"Yep." Caitlin says, then frowns. "I got a voicemail. According to the ID, it's from an unknown number."

"That's weird." Lily says. "You never get calls from unknown numbers on your private line."

"I just hope no one weird got hold of it." Caitlin says. "I know that Jesse has been having trouble at college with the anti-particle accelerator protesters."

Caitlin quickly presses the voicemail button, and the message plays. Caitlin felt her worries leave her and then felt her heart pick-up. Caitlin quickly the button to dial the number and is semi-surprised when it is answered on the first ring.

"Hello." the voice of Barry Allan says.

"Hey. This is Caitlin." she says. "I just got your voicemail and I'm taking my lunch break now. I can meet you at Big Belly Burger in about fifteen or twenty minutes, depending on traffic."

"That's good." Barry says. "I just got here, myself. I was just about to order, but I can wait for you to arrive."

"No, that's OK." Caitlin says. "You can go ahead and order something for yourself while you wait."

"No, I'll wait for you." Barry says. "Twenty minutes isn't too long. One time when I was working a particular time-sensitive case I didn't have time to eat anything from breakfast at 8 am to 3 am the following morning. Actually make that 12 pm the following afternoon, as by the time I got off work that day I was too tired to eat anything. I fell asleep the moment I got home."

"Well if you're sure." Caitlin says. "I'll be there soon."

With that, Caitlin heads for the door, with Lily feeling a bit amused as Caitlin had clearly forgotten about her.

"Hey." Cisco says, walking into the lab. "Are you two ready for lunch?"

Caitlin's smile fell. "Um, Cisco..." she says, feeling guilty that she had forgotten that the three of them had always eaten lunch together after Cisco had started working here three months ago.

"Caitlin can't make it today." Lily says. "The hottie from the bar called and apparently asked her if she could meet him for lunch."

"Don't call him the hottie." Caitlin and Cisco say in unison, and then they glance at each other.

"OK, I'm opposed to calling him the hottie, because as much as I love hanging out with you two, I'm not that in touch with my feminine side." Cisco says. "But seriously, I'm good. Go and have lunch with him."

"Are you sure?" Caitlin asks. "I don't want this to affect our friendship."

"No worries there." Cisco says. "If you're feeling guilty, don't. If a hot woman I clicked with at a bar called me up and invited me to lunch, I'd do the same thing."

"And you don't consider the two of us hot?" Lily asks.

"Well of course the two of you are both hot." Cisco says. "But when we became friends, both of you told me you weren't interested in dating coworkers. And..."

"Relax, Cisco." Lily says. "I was just teasing you. Honestly, it's refreshing having a coworker of the opposite sex who isn't gay, to be friends without ulterior motives."

"Anyway, now that this conversation has turned super awkward I'll get going." Caitlin says. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow, I promise. Lunch will be on me."

"Sure, if it will make you feel better." Lily says. "Now get going."

* * *

Twenty minutes later Caitlin arrived at Big Belly Burger to find Barry waiting for her.

"Hey." Barry says. "Thanks for coming."

"I wasn't actually sure you would call." Caitlin says. "I haven't given out my phone number to someone I met in a bar before. I've been focusing on my career, and haven't really had a real date in years."

"I'm guilty of that too." Barry says. "My last date was actually in college."

"Well my last date was a while ago, but it wasn't that long." Caitlin says, then pauses. "Although maybe it was. As I said I was finished with college and medical school by the time I was 20."

"Well now that we've finished reinforcing the fact that we're both hopeless losers with no social life, let's order lunch." Barry laughs.

"Hey I do have a social life. I went to the bar the other night and I hang out at my friends' houses and..." Caitlin starts and then trails off. "Oh god I don't have a social life."

"Well if it makes you feel better, you have more of a social life than me." Barry says. "I don't really have any close friends. I don't meet many people outside of work, and as I told you before I work mainly with cops who I don't have much in common with."

"Well aren't we a pair, Mr. Allen?" Caitlin asks. "Now let's order lunch."

The two quickly order their meals and then managed to find a booth in the back of the crowded restaurant.

"So do you come here often?" Caitlin asks.

"Once a week maybe." Barry says. "I usually bring my lunch to work and eat in my lab."

"But you didn't bring your lunch today?" Caitlin asks.

"Actually I have the day off." Barry says as the two begin to eat. "My days and hours off are a bit irregular. After all crimes don't just occur 9 am to 5 pm on Monday-Friday."

"I remember the feeling." Caitlin says. "When I was doing my residency to get my medical license, I had a lot of days like that too. I actually considered continuing to become a practicing physician for a while, but after observing me, my mentor said I had a keen scientific mind and I would be more helpful to people working on developing new cures. Since working at STAR Labs I've helped to develop treatments that helped save a lot of lives."

"That's really amazing." Barry says.

"Yeah it is." Caitlin says, smiling. "I don't interact with patients day to day, but I do some supervision of the clinical trials and it's always rewarding seeing patients who had little or no hope slowly get better. I get a real sense of accomplishment from that. Don't you feel the same when you put bad guys away?"

"Sometimes, but not always." Barry says. "You do get a sense of accomplishment from preventing bad guys from committing more crimes. But the people who they murdered are still dead and sometimes..." he trails off.

"Sometimes what?" Caitlin prods.

"Well just last week we caught a man who murdered his sister for the insurance money and tried to frame their parents for the crime." Barry tells her. "My work helped prove his guilt and he finally confessed with his parents looking. The look on his parents' faces were..." he trails off.

"Yeah I suppose that is rough." Caitlin replies. "I suppose it would be similar to doing all you can for a patient and then watching them die. I had three patients I was helping to care for, die when I was working at the hospital. Sometimes I can still see their faces when I close my eyes."

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Barry says, recalling the last time he saw his mother's face.

Caitlin seeing the look on Barry's face tries to lighten the mood. "Wow, no wonder neither of us have much of a social life." she jokes. "We sure know how to bring down the mood."

"Yeah." Barry says, pushing the image of his mother out of the mind. "So anyway, what are you working on now?"

"Nothing much." Caitlin says. "I told you at the bar that I'm between projects at the moment, so I'm waiting for Harry and Tess to decide if they're going to approve the idea I've submitted to them. For the moment Lily and I are doing the boring work of reviewing the results from all the medical treatments and other projects we've worked on for the past few years."

"What was the project you've submitted anyway?" Barry asks.

"I'll tell you if it's approved." Caitlin says. "I don't want to jinx it."

"Fair enough." Barry says.

"All I can say is this is if it works, my name will become nationally recognized." Caitlin says.

"Well, I'll be rooting for you." Barry says.

"Thanks." Caitlin says. Then she finishes her meal and checks her watch. "Oh shoot! If I don't leave now, I'm going to be late getting back to work."

"Well then, you should get going." Barry says.

"OK." Caitlin says. "When do you want to meet up again? I know you don't normally go out for lunch, and I normally eat out with my co-workers, but how about we meet up tomorrow for coffee at CC Jitters?"

"Sure." Barry says. "How about at 8 am?"

"Perfect." Caitlin says. "I'll see you tomorrow."

With that Barry watches Caitlin leave, feeling a bit bemused. He had only met Caitlin twice so far, but he found himself to be a lot more relaxed around her than any of the few women he had dated in college. He was shaken out of his thoughts when his phone rang. He looked at the display and saw it was a text from Captain Singh, saying they had a triple homicide on their hands.

Barry sighed and got up to leave. He loved his job, but sometimes he wished the CCPD would hire a few more CSIs so he wasn't on call at all times.


	3. A Day at the Office

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I made a minor mistake in the last chapter. When Caitlin said she and Tess were reviewing results from medical treatments, it was supposed to be her and Lily reviewing the files. I've fixed it. Also this chapter turned out to be something completely different from what I started writing. It was supposed to be Barry and Caitlin's first date. Instead it turned out to be a set-up for the next chapter where Barry meets some of the STAR Labs gang and finally asks Caitlin out on a real date. And what happens in this chapter will be a plot point for something that happens later in the story.

Over the next two weeks, Caitlin and Barry met for coffee every morning before work and also a few times in the evening. The two had talked a lot in the past two weeks and had gotten to know each other pretty well. They also managed to avoid going into a repeat of the depressing subjects that they had gotten into during their first two meetings.

"Hey Barry." Caitlin says as Barry enters the cafe. "You seem a bit more rested than the last few times I saw you."

"Yeah, well I actually got some sleep last night." Barry says. "For the last week and a half I've mainly been working nights and been sleeping during the day."

"Yeah I can tell you've been working hard." Caitlin says. "You want to talk about it?"

"Well I can't really discuss open cases, but you've seen the news right?" Barry asks.

"You mean about the recent uptick in robberies from businesses?" Caitlin asks, and watches as Barry nods.

"Whoever these guys are, they're good." Barry says. "They've been covering their tracks well, but last night I think I uncovered a clue that will help lead us to them... I really shouldn't have even told you that much."

"Don't worry." Caitlin says. "My lips are sealed. I promise not to tell anyone."

"So how's your work going?" Barry asks. "Still doing medical treatment reviews?"

"Actually I'm finished with that." Caitlin says. "They're going to be announcing the new projects today."

"So you are going to find out if your bosses approved your project today?" Barry asks.

"Yep." Caitlin says. "I have to say I'm a bit nervous. I haven't felt this anxious in years. I really put my heart and soul into this proposal."

"Well I have faith in you." Barry says. "I'm sure they'll approve it."

"Thank you." Caitlin says. "But even with a company as big as STAR Labs, we have limited resources. There are a finite number of major projects that they can have going at any one time. Right now we have open slots for five new major projects and at least fifty ideas have been submitted. I'm not sure, but I think I'm the youngest one to have submitted a project. You know, now that I say it out loud, I'm almost positive my idea won't be approved this time. But there's always next time."

"Caitlin, take a breath." Barry says. "You should have confidence in yourself."

"I do, but..." Caitlin says, but then is interrupted by someone yelling Barry's last name.

"Allen!" comes the voice of Captain Singh. Barry looks up to see the captain walking towards him. "We need to go."

"Captain Singh." Barry says in surprise and then checks his watch. "I'm not due into work for another half an-hour. Wait, was I supposed to come in early today?"

"No, for once you're not late." Captain Singh says. "We have a major situation, and I know you usually stop in this coffee shop before work so I decided to pick you up."

"Um, hello." Caitlin says.

Captain Singh turns towards Caitlin, noticing her for the first time. "Can I help you miss?" the Captain asks.

"Well I'm assuming you're Barry's boss, because of the way he called you Captain." Caitlin says. "But generally speaking it would be a bit less rude to say good morning before interrupting one of your employees' conversations on his off hours and rushing him off to an emergency."

Captain Singh opens his mouth to respond and then closes it.

"Um, Captain Singh, this is Dr. Caitlin Snow." Barry says. "Caitlin, this is my boss Captain David Singh."

"Pleased to meet you." Captain Singh says, then pauses. "You're right. That is a bit rude of me. I'm sorry."

Barry is a bit shocked at his apology. "What's the emergency?" he asks.

"Not here." Captain Singh says. "We need to go before the press gets wind of this."

"Um..." Barry stutters.

"It's OK." Caitlin says. "I should be getting to work anyway. It's a big day today. And I'm sure if your captain decided to track you down, it must be something really big. Just be careful."

"I'll be fine." Barry says. "I only process the evidence after all. It's not like I go chasing after armed criminals myself. And good luck today. I'm sure they'll pick your project. We can meet up later to have drinks and celebrate."

"Or to drown my sorrows in misery, if things don't go my way." Caitlin says. "Well either way I suppose I'll know soon enough."

With that Caitlin heads off. Captain Singh watches her go with a surprised look on his face.

"Who was that?" Singh asks. "Was she your girlfriend?"

"Yes, no, I mean maybe." Barry stammers. "We met in a bar a couple of weeks ago and we hit it off pretty well. We've been meeting for coffee every morning and sometimes after work when I have off, but we haven't actually gone out on an official date. I was thinking about asking her but..."

"Slow down Allen." Captain Singh says, checking his watch. "I don't have time to deal with your love life today. We really need to get going."

With that Captain Singh and Barry make their way to a waiting police car and climb in. Barry notices that his gear is already in the car, so whatever this is it must be really serious.

"Listen Allen, we're short on time so I'll make this short and simple." Singh says. "If you like the girl ask her out. You spend way too much time cooped up in that lab of yours. I've known too many officers who lived and breathed the job of police officer so much, they never started families or ruined the relationships with the family they did have."

"Well I spend so much time in my lab because I'm the only CSI our precinct has." Barry says, although that was only partially true. The truth was Barry was a bit of a workaholic.

At this Singh softens a bit. "Barry, I know I've been overworking you and yell at you a lot but with the exception of you being constantly late and using long scientific explanations that no one understands, you do good work." he says. "But the police budget has been increased and I'm working on hiring you more help. In fact the commissioner has just proposed a new test program, so if things go well you should have a new assistant by the end of the month."

"What new test program?" Barry asks.

"I'll tell you later." Captain Singh says. "Right now we have more important matters to deal with. The mayor's daughter has been kidnapped."

"What?" Barry asks, shocked. Barry really liked the current mayor. He had voted for him in the last election and so far he thought he was doing a great job for the city.

"The mayor's wife put her on the school bus as usual, but noticed that it wasn't the usual driver." Captain Singh says. "The man who was driving the bus says the other guy called out sick. I've sent police to search his home."

Captain Singh looks at his phone and then looks at Barry. "The bus driver was just found." he says. "He was in the basement of his house bound, gagged, and wearing only his underwear. He said he had just finished dressing for work, and was about to leave and the next thing he knew he was in his basement chained up. Someone must have attacked him and stole his uniform. He'll be brought to the police station for questioning, but he's been driving school buses for nearly thirty years so it's highly unlikely he's involved."

"Was anyone else taken?" Barry asked, his blood running cold.

"No." Captain Singh says. "It was a targeted kidnapping."

"How can you be so certain?" Barry asks. "Did you contact...?"

"We know it was a targeted kidnapping, because whoever took his place followed the driver's route to a tee." Captain Singh says. "He picked up all seventeen children before the mayor's house so as to not arouse suspicion as to why his bus was empty. Once he had the mayor's daughter on board, he disabled the bus's GPS and deviated from his route. He stopped in an abandoned parking lot and then two masked gunman got on. They injected the mayor's daughter with something, probably a knockout drug and carried her off the bus. Then one of the men gave one of the other children a cell phone and an envelop and instructed them to call the police."

"That was really brazen." Barry says.

"Tell me about it." Captain Singh says, then checks the display on his phone again. "We're double-checking all the names on the bus's list to make sure everyone else is accounted for as well as all other school buses in the city, but it appears that the mayor's daughter was the only one taken. We need to find her fast."

"Where are we heading?" Barry asks, knowing that there are several crime scenes. "The parking lot where they left the bus or the bus driver's house?"

"First we're heading to the parking lot where they left the bus, then we'll be going to the driver's home." Captain Singh says. "The envelop contained a ransom note and it wasn't good."

"What are they demanding?" Barry asks.

"The mayor and commissioner are keeping that need to know as they don't want it getting out." Captain Singh says. "That doesn't concern you anyway, you need to focus on finding some type of clue that will lead us to their hideout."

"Right." Barry says.

* * *

Meanwhile Caitlin had arrived at STAR Labs, unaware of the case Barry was dealing with.

"Hey Caitlin." Lily greeted her. "How are you feeling today?"

"Very nervous." Caitlin tells her friend. "I was so confident when I proposed this idea but now I wonder what I was thinking. I'm way too young to head a project of this size."

"Relax Caitlin." Lily says. "It's natural to be nervous. I remember when I proposed my first idea last year. I was about as nervous as you are now. But the project was approved, and while I faced some resentment by older scientists whose ideas were rejected, most people congratulated me."

"Thanks." Caitlin says.

"Anyway I read over the project idea and think it has a lot of potential." Lily says. "I'm pretty sure that Harry and Tess will approve it."

"Really?" Caitlin asks.

"Really." Lily says, smiling.

"Hey Caitlin, Lily." Cisco greets them as the two walk into the building. "So today's the big day, huh? You're going to find out if your big project is approved."

"Yes." Caitlin says.

"You know you never told me what your idea is anyway." Cisco says.

"It's a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease using nanotechnology." Caitlin says. "My idea is to use nanotechnology to do a far more detailed mapping of the brain than ever before attempted. Then by comparing scans of a healthy brain, a brain from someone who has advanced Alzheimer's, and a brain from someone who was in its' earliest stages. Then, if my idea pans out we can develop a new technique..."

"Caitlin, my brother and sister-in-law want to see you in their office right away." HR says.

"This is it." Caitlin says. "Wish me luck guys."

"Good luck." Cisco and Lily say as she walks off.

"I wonder if they've selected her project." Cisco says.

"They have." HR says.

"What?!" Cisco asks. "They have?"

"How do you know?" Lily asks.

"My brother owns the company." HR says. "We often discuss projects at family dinner. Both he and Tess were excited by Caitlin's idea. They said that her treatment idea was really groundbreaking. They also discussed a couple of other projects as well, including one by Dr. Danvers who wanted to..."

"Never mind that." Cisco says. "Caitlin got her project approved. We should plan a celebration party for her. I'm going..."

"To get to work." HR says. "If I recall Cisco, you're supposed to be helping Hartley to install some new safety procedures on the particle accelerator. And Lily you also have work to do. If you want, we can meet up to plan a celebration party at our lunch break."

"But we usually have lunch with Caitlin." Cisco protests.

"Caitlin won't be meeting us for lunch." Lily says. "Every time a new project is approved, Harry and Tess take the project heads out for lunch. And she'll be very busy for the rest of the day as she learns what she is expected to do as project head. They have to work out how much resources each new project will be allocated, and considering this is the first time Caitlin is heading up a project she'll have a lot more to get used to, such as gathering staff..."

"In short she'll be very busy today." HR says. "Now we can discuss this later. I myself have an important conference call in ten minutes."

With that HR walks off, heading for his office.

"I suppose we'll meet for lunch to plan the celebration party." Lily says. "We'll meet up at the usual spot."

"Right." Cisco says as he heads off to get to work.

* * *

Caitlin arrives outside Harry and Tess's office, feeling a bit nervous. When she first started she found it a bit weird that the two only had one office between them, but Tess told them that they started the company together and that science was their real passion. They enjoyed doing scientific research and they traded off doing what they called the boring work of actually managing the company.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the office to find Tess and Harry waiting for them. The two of them were great bosses and tried to get familiar with most of their employees. They considered science to be a team sport and wanted their employees to treat them as friends rather than bosses, which is why most employees called them by their first name.

"Harry, Tess, good morning." Caitlin says.

"Hey Caitlin." Harry says. "It's good to see you. It's been awhile."

"True." Caitlin says. "I haven't seen you since you got back from Europe."

"Well you know I've been busy with the particle accelerator tour." Harry says. ""Some areas have been rough."

"Well next time a trip is called for, it will be my turn." Tess says. "I actually find traveling to be quite fun, though it is lonely when I have to go without either you or Jesse."

"But this is getting off track." Harry says. "I'm sure you're probably nervous so I'll cut to the chase. We've decided to approve your project."

"Really?" Caitlin says, not believing it.

"Really." Tess says. "The approach you've suggested is really groundbreaking. Although to be fair, until now the technology to do what you're suggesting hasn't really existed."

"Thank you." Caitlin says.

"If this works, it has the potential to be one of STAR Labs' greatest medical achievements." Harry says.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Harry." Tess says. "This project will take at least a year to complete, maybe longer."

"I know." Harry says, then turns to Caitlin. "We're going to be spending some time with you, once we're done informing the other people who've submitted projects if their ideas were rejected or accepted. Everyone else whose project was approved have already worked as project heads before. Considering this is your first time heading a project, we're going to spend a lot of time with you today making sure you understand your new responsibilities."

"Thank you." Caitlin says.

"While we're doing this, why don't you go to your office and begin looking through the personnel files and employment applications to start picking potential members of your team." Tess says.

"I don't have an office." Caitlin says.

"You do now." Tess says. "If you remember, all project heads have their own office inside the labs where they'll be working. Although if you're like Harry and me, you'll probably want to spend as little time inside it as possible."

Caitlin feels a bit overwhelmed for a moment, as she realized she would now be responsible for hiring a team to work on her project as well as submitting a budget and filing progress reports. "I won't let you down." Caitlin says as she leaves the office to start on her new task.

* * *

Barry was in his lab, working furiously on a few samples of spores that he had found on the phone the kidnappers had left, as well as the rope they had used to tie up the driver. The sketch artists working the case had identified the driver as Kevin Lampus, a local thug who was mainly a hired muscle. However, more worrying was a fingerprint he found on the cell phone's battery. The criminals always forgot to wipe the battery while cleaning away fingerprints.

The fingerprint in question belonged to the brother of a convicted murderer who had killed a dozen people and was scheduled to be executed at 8 pm tonight. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he wanted.

"This is odd." Barry says as he gets a match on his computer screen. Barry begins typing on his keyboard and then smiles. "This may be it."

Barry runs out of his lab where police officers have sent up a command post for the search of the kidnapped girl.

"Captain Singh." Barry shouts hoping to get his attention.

"Barry I hope you have good news." Captain Singh says. "And don't take an hour to explain the science, just bottom line it."

"I believe I found the kidnapper's hideout." Barry says. "It's an old, abandoned leather factory on the edge of town. Here is the address."

"How sure are you about this?" Captain Singh asks.

"I'm nearly 100% positive that the kidnappers used this location, but I can't guarantee that's where they took the mayor's daughter." Barry answers.

"Well that's a better lead than we have so far." Captain Singh. "Let's go, everyone. You too, Allen."

"Me?" Barry asks.

"If the kidnappers did use this location and aren't there, we'll need you to search the location for clues. Every second counts." the captain says. "Don't worry, you'll stay in the car with an officer until the place is cleared."

* * *

An hour and a half later, Barry was back in his lab feeling relieved. The kidnappers had indeed been at the warehouse. The hostage rescue team had managed to rescue the girl, but all three kidnappers were killed in the process. Fortunately the mayor's daughter was kept unconscious for the entire time, so hopefully there wouldn't be any lasting psychological damage.

Somehow the police had managed to keep the story from breaking for several hours. In fact the first news clip reporting the mayor's daughter's kidnapping had aired just as the hostage rescue team was rescuing the girl. Barry had spent the rest of the day writing up his reports.

It was just about five o'clock and time for him to leave when his cell phone rang. He checked it and frowned when he saw it was someone named Cisco Ramon. The name sounded familiar for some reason, but he couldn't immediately place it. He figured it may be a reporter wanting his comment on the daughter's kidnapping.

He considered not answering the call, but he wasn't entirely sure that it was a reporter and even if it was not answering wouldn't do anything as reporters were nothing if not persistent. "Hello, this is Barry Allen." he says.

"Oh, you answered." came an unfamiliar voice from over the phone. "I tried to call you at lunch but you didn't answer."

"I was busy with work." Barry says. "Um, who is this?"

"Oh sorry. Where are my manners?" the man says. "I'm Cisco Ramon. I'm not sure if Caitlin mentioned me, but I work at STAR Labs."

"Oh yeah." Barry says, remembering where he heard the name before. Caitlin had mentioned him a couple of times. He was a relatively new hire at STAR Labs, who was working on the particle accelerator. "Caitlin mentioned you a couple of times."

"Oh that's good." Cisco says. "Anyway I'm calling to let you know that Caitlin's proposal was approved and she was just put in charge of her own team. Lily, Jesse, and I were planning on taking her out to celebrate. I was wondering if you'd like to join us."

"Well work has been a bit hectic today what with the kidnapping and all." Barry says. "But since the girl was recovered safe and sound and all the kidnappers are dead, I may be able to get off."

"Wait, what kidnapping?" Cisco asks in surprise and concern.

"You haven't checked the news today?" Barry asks.

"No I haven't." Cisco says. "What happened?"

"It's a long story." Barry says. "I'm not really allowed to talk about it. In fact I'm not even sure if the police released the fact that all the kidnappers are dead yet."

"Don't worry, I won't say a word to anyone." Cisco says. "But do you think you'll be able to make it? I checked and Caitlin will be getting off work in forty-five minutes."

"I'll check with my captain and text you with his answer in about five minutes." Barry says.

"OK, my man." Cisco says. "I really hope you'll be able to make it."

With that Barry exits his lab and heads down to the captain's office. When he enters it he finds the captain talking to Detective Chyre.

"Hey Allen." Singh says. "You did really good work today. Thanks to you the mayor's daughter was found safe and sound."

"How is the mayor?" Barry asks.

"He's really shaken by all of this as one might expect." Captain Singh says. "But his wife is a complete wreck, she had to be sedated. Fortunately the daughter was unconscious the entire time and doesn't even remember getting on the bus this morning. The doctors say that is likely a side effect of the drug they used."

"That's probably for the best." Chyre says. "We had to question the other kids on the bus and some of them weren't handling witnessing an armed kidnapping too well. But the psychologists said they'll most likely recover."

"That's good to hear." Barry says.

"Yeah, but now the mayor and commissioner are working on how to prevent this from ever happening again." Singh says. "They're increasing security at the school bus stations, making drivers turn in their keys every night and have it so they need to be positively IDed before taking their buses out."

"That's probably a sensible precaution." Barry says. "But I came to ask you if I could leave work now. It's about time I normally leave and I've finished all the relevant reports."

"You're asking to leave work early on a day like today?" Chyre asks. "What's going on, you have a hot date or something?"

"Oh right that woman you were with this morning said something about maybe getting a promotion today." Captain Singh says.

"Wait." Chyre says in surprise. "Your really do have a date?"

"I'm working up to it." Barry asks. "Right now it's just me and a couple of her coworkers going out for drinks to celebrate her getting the promotion. Anyway I think I may ask her out..."

"I told you before I don't need a full play-by-play of your love life." Captain Singh says. "But you can go ahead and go. You did good work today and we don't really need you for anything else today."

"Thank you." Barry says and then turns to leave.

As Barry leaves, Chyre shakes his head. "Allen with a girlfriend." he says. "What kind of girl would be interested in him?"

"He's a good kid." the captain says. "A bit obsessed sometimes, but a good kid. Anyway we still have a lot of work to do." With that the pair continued to work on dealing with the fallout of the kidnapping.


	4. After Work Party

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just for reference, the first chapter in the fic took place in late July and this chapter takes place in early August. I know that doesn't fit in with Arrow's exact timeline, so for purposes of this fic, Oliver Queen was found in the middle of May. Everything else that happens in season 1 and early season 2 of Arrow will remain cannon, but things will change once we get to Arrow season 2 where Barry goes to Star City. (Besides the obvious one concerning Barry and Felicity.) Also Dr. Eliza Danvers will appear in this chapter, but it is more of a cameo role. Other characters from the Supergirl universe will appear in the story in minor supporting roles, but with one exception, they won't play a major part. However I do have rough plans for a sort of alternate 'season 2' story, which will involve the Supergirl gang a lot more. But that is a very long time away.

* * *

Barry arrived at the club Cisco texted him about half-an-hour after leaving work. He looked up when someone called his name. "Barry my man, you made it!" he said.

"Cisco Ramon, I presume." Barry says.

"The one and only." Cisco says. "It's good to meet you. Caitlin has talked about you a lot."

"She has?" Barry asks. "That's good."

"The others are already inside." Cisco says. "Let's go."

Cisco leads him to a table in the back of the club. Being a Monday night, the club is not as packed as it would be during the weekend. But there was still a considerable amount of people there.

"Barry." Caitlin says smiling as she sees him. "You made it."

"Yeah, I did." Barry says.

"Did you manage to take care of whatever emergency your boss dragged you off to?" Caitlin asks in concern.

"It's all been dealt with." Barry says. "But I'm not allowed to talk about it."

"Right, police business." Lily says, then pauses. "It didn't have anything to do with the kidnapping of the mayor's daughter, did it?"

"It did." Barry says, figuring he can answer that much.

"Wait, what kidnapping?" Caitlin asks, fumbling for her phone. "I was so busy today, I didn't check the news."

"Relax it's fine." Barry says. "We found the mayor's daughter. She's safe, unharmed, and back with her parents."

"That's good." Caitlin says.

"But enough of the depressing stuff." Barry says. "We're here to celebrate tonight. And you haven't introduced me to the rest of your friends yet."

"Oh right." Caitlin says. "Where are my manners? These are my friends and colleagues, Lily Stein, Jesse Wells, Hartley Rathaway, Eliza Danvers, Victor Stone, and Pamela Ivy. Why don't you all tell Barry a little about yourselves?"

"Hi, I'm Lily." Lily says. "I'm Caitlin's best friend. I just finished up my latest project and am currently helping out with several others, while I put together an idea for my next one."

"You probably know this, but I'm Harrison and Tess' daughter." Jesse says. "Caitlin and Lily are currently my closest friends. Like the two of them, I started college when I was fourteen. So I really relate to them more than most people my own age."

"I'm the lead engineer on the particle accelerator." Hartley says, then pauses. "I'm not really sure if I can be considered friends with Caitlin, I mean we're acquaintances from work but we don't really work in the same field. However, I do find her to be quite intelligent and though I'm not a specialist in her field, her project idea sounds like it has great potential."

"Don't mind Hartley." Caitlin says. "He's a bit anti-social. But recently he's been making a bit more of an effort."

"Yeah, he's only been complaining about my shirts twice a day." Cisco says.

Hartley opens his mouth to respond, but Lily holds up her hand. "Please, don't start with that tonight." she says.

"Anyway, let's continue with the introductions." Caitlin says.

"Dr. Eliza Danvers. I'm currently working on a project to make certain drugs last longer without refrigeration, so they can be transported more easily to remote locations without power." Eliza says. "Caitlin and my daughter Alex were dorm mates in medical school."

"Yeah, it was a bit weird though." Caitlin says. "We're the same age, but I was in my last year and she was in her first."

"I'm Victor Stone." Victor says. "I specialize in creating advanced cybernetics to replace missing limbs. I was actually promoted myself two months ago and am going to be taking over the entire STAR Labs Metropolis facility next week. So this party can double as my farewell party."

"We'll all miss you, Victor." Caitlin says.

"And last but not least, I'm Dr. Pamela Isley." Pamela says. "I'm currently working on a method that will rapidly increase plant growth. It's in the earliest stages right now, but if it works it would help to rapidly regrow the rain forest and end deforestation."

"Well, it's nice to meet you all." Barry says. "But suddenly I'm feeling a bit unaccomplished being surrounded by all of you geniuses."

"Now there's no need for that." Eliza says. "I think there is a little girl out there who thinks you're plenty accomplished."

"Thanks." Barry says, blushing slightly at the praise.

"OK, now let's get this party started." Cisco says, as the waitress brings over their first round of drinks.

"I took the liberty of ordering your first round for you." Caitlin says. "I hope that's OK."

"It's fine." Barry says.

"Just try not to get roaring drunk, OK?" Jesse asks. "Since I'm underage and I can't drink, so I'm acting as designated driver and I don't want you all puking in my car."

"You didn't even bring your car." Cisco protests. "You brought a STAR Labs van."

"Yeah well that's because that's the only vehicle that will fit all of you." Jesse says. "Anyway I'd like to propose a toast. To STAR Labs' newest project leader. Congratulations and may your first project be a great success and the first of many to come."

With that the group raises their glasses filled with alcohol (or water in the case of Jesse) and drink it.

"So what is your project anyway?" Barry asks.

"You mean Caitlin didn't tell you?" Jesse asks in surprise.

"She told me she didn't want to jinx it." Barry says.

"OK, thinking about it now it does seem a bit dumb." Caitlin says. "It's a new idea I have for treating and possibly one day curing Alzheimer's disease using new advances in nanotechnology." Caitlin then proceeds to explain to Barry in great detail about her ideas. Barry asks her several questions while she explains her idea.

"Well that is a real revolutionary idea." Barry says. "I'm sure you'll succeed."

"Thanks." Caitlin says. "But the initial study alone is going to take at least three to six months, and then we have to analyze the data in great detail to find out if my treatment idea is even viable. But I really do think it will work."

"Well I certainly hope it does." Hartley says. "My grandfather is suffering from Alzheimer's disease."

"Well since I haven't really started on the project yet, we'll need volunteers for the test study. If you want I could look at your grandfather's case and depending on what stage he is in, see if he would work for the study. Then he could become one of the first trial subjects once I develop my treatment."

"Thanks for the offer." Hartley says, and Caitlin notes that he has a rare genuine smile on his face, though it is a bit sad. "But he's pretty far gone and my mother has been declared his guardian. And I don't think she'll allow it... that is if you mention my name. If you contact her directly and don't mention that you know me, she may agree."

"Wait, why wouldn't your mother agree if your name was mentioned?" Barry asks confused.

"Because my parents disowned me when I told them I was gay." Hartley says, and then downs another drink.

"I had no idea." Cisco says, shocked. "My relationship with my parents are a bit strained, as my older brother is their favorite and they don't really understand what it is that I do, but they haven't out and out disowned me."

"You know I have no idea how they could do such a thing." Eliza says shocked. "I could never imagine my daughter doing anything that would cause me to disown her.

"Yeah, well I don't like to talk about it that much." Hartley says. "I had a really good relationship with them before. I actually had to threaten to sue to get visitation rights with my grandfather, as they don't want the bad publicity. But this is supposed to be a party. And I don't really feel like hashing this all out again."

"Um, well if you want I'll see if they're willing to allow your grandfather participate." Caitlin says.

"Thank you." Hartley say. "I appreciate it."

"Well then, let's try to liven things up a little bit." Jesse says. "Let's hit the dance floor."

With that Jesse gets up and heads for the dance floor, which has become a bit crowded. After a second Hartley gets up and follows her.

"You dance?" Pamela asks in surprise.

"Not really." Hartley says. "But it has to be better than staying here and talking about my parents, or avoiding awkward silence from people trying to avoid talking about my parents."

"That's true." Pamela says. "C'mon people, let's go."

As they get up, Barry decides to take his chance. "Hey Caitlin, would you do me the honor of having the next dance?" Barry asks.

Caitlin laughs at this. "The honor of having the next dance?" she asks. "Honestly your 'do you come here often' line was less cheesy. But yes you may have the honor of dancing with me."

As she takes Barry's hand, Lily flashes her a thumbs-up sign.

Then they head off to the dance floor, leaving Cisco and Lily sitting at the table.

"Well the two of them sure take their sweet time." Lily says. "The two haven't even gone out on a real date yet."

"Yeah I know." Cisco says. "I wonder what the hold-up is, it's obvious the two like each other."

"Well they're both shy and reserved people." Lily says. "But Caitlin told me that if Barry didn't ask her out by the time her project was approved, she would ask him about herself."

"Well that's good." Cisco says.

"Anyway, what about you?" Lily asks. "Anyone special in your life?"

"No not really." Cisco says.

"Well, we're at a club and the night is young." Lily says. "Why not go out there and look for someone? After all Caitlin found someone, maybe you'll get lucky too."

"Yeah, sure." Cisco says. "Why not?"

* * *

Elsewhere, Barry and Caitlin were dancing on the club floor. The two were a bit awkward at first, but after a while the two began to have fun and relax. After about half-an-hour of dancing, the two began to get tired and headed back to the table to relax.

"Well that certainly was fun." Caitlin said. "I don't remember the last time I went out to a club and danced."

"Well I do." Barry says. "I've never danced at a club before."

"Never?" Caitlin asks in surprise. "Well I really couldn't tell. You were a natural out there."

"Thanks." Barry says as the two take another sip of their drinks. Barry only takes a sip but Caitlin downs the entire thing in one gulp. "Wow, that was very fast."

"Go out with me." she says. "On a date." she then pauses. "Wait, that came out too much like an order. I mean will you go out on a date with me?"

"Yes." Barry says. "I've been working up my courage to ask you, but as I said I'm not really good with that sort of thing."

"Yeah, I could tell." Caitlin says. "That's why I asked you."

"So do you want to plan the date or should I?" Barry asks. "I mean I know it's traditional that the man should plan the date, but it is the 21st century and you asked me after all."

"You can plan the date." Caitlin says. "After all I'm going to be super busy with work the next week, putting my team together. You can make it for Saturday evening, if you can get the night off, that is."

"I'll try and manage it." Barry says. "And I promise you the date will be memorable."

"Well, I'll be looking forward to it." Caitlin says.

"Well, it's about time." Lily says, coming up from behind Caitlin.

"Were you spying on me the whole time?" Caitlin asks, embarrassed.

"Of course." Lily says. "Honestly, you two should have gone out over a week ago."

"I concur." Pamela says as she and Eliza returns to the table.

"Some people just take time to gather the courage to go on dates." Eliza says. "It took my husband over two months to ask me out on our first date."

"Where is your husband by the way?" Pamela asks. "I thought he'd be here."

"His flight back from Atlanta was delayed due to bad weather." Eliza says.

"I see." Pamela says.

"What does your husband do?" Barry asks.

"He works for the CDC investigating outbreaks of new diseases." Eliza says.

"So he travels a lot?" Barry asks.

"Not as much as he used to." Eliza says. "He does still go out in the field sometimes, but he mainly heads up the Central City research division."

"That's impressive." Barry says.

"Still, I don't know why I'd let Pamela drag me out of the dance floor." Eliza says. "Most of you are the age of my daughter."

"Come on, you're not over the hill yet." Pamela says. "You were really busting a move out there."

"You may be younger than I am, but I think you are still too old to use the phrase bust a move." Eliza says.

As he says this, HR Wells walks up to the table carrying a cake with three candles on it.

"There she is, our new project head." HR says.

"What's going on?" Cisco asks, as the rest of the group comes over. "Why does HR have a cake?"

"Why, to celebrate our newest project head of course!" HR says, putting the cake down.

"And you bought her a cake?" Cisco asks in confusion.

"Well, I'd normally do something bigger, but my brother told me I had to tone down the celebrations after last year's skydiving incident." HR says.

"What skydiving incident?" Caitlin asks.

"Don't ask." Lily says. "You were out of town that week, and you're better off not knowing."

"I still think dad overreacted a bit, I was only stuck for six hours and the repairs for that antenna tower didn't cost that much." Jesse says.

"Um..." Barry begins.

"Anyway, Caitlin, it's your big day today." HR says. "Blow out the candles and make a wish."

"That's for birthdays, you idiot." Hartley says.

"Well this was the only thing I could come up with on short notice." HR says. "The band I had booked got stuck in Atlanta due to bad weather and couldn't make it."

"Um, you booked a band from Atlanta?" Barry asks.

"Of course not." HR says. "Flying in an out of town band is an expense for when a project is successfully concluded. I booked a local band, but they had an out of town gig and they got caught in Atlanta."

"OK, got it." Caitlin says. "But thank you for going to all that trouble. I'm truly touched."

"Hm, I wonder if they're with my husband." Eliza says.

"Why would they be with your husband?" HR asks, confused.

"He's also in Atlanta on work related issues and his flight was delayed too." Eliza explains.

"Anyway make a wish." Lily says.

"That is still for birthdays." Hartley says.

"Well we can consider this the birthday of Caitlin's project." Victor suggests. "I know you can wish that your project is a success."

"No!" Jesse says. "We can't know what it is or it won't come true."

"This is really stupid." Hartley says.

"Shut up." Cisco says.

"OK, I've got my wish ready." Caitlin says, then pauses. "Why three candles though?"

"Because you've worked at Star Labs for three years." HR says.

"Oh." Caitlin says, then takes a breath and blows out the candle.

At that point some of the bar staff come up and start wishing Caitlin a happy birthday.

"Um, no it's not my birthday..." Caitlin tries to explain.

"I need to come up with a better plan B for the next time." HR mutters to himself.

The group then continues their celebration late into the night.

* * *

Meanwhile, across town in a non descript warehouse, a person in a wheelchair with heavy scarring on her face was working busily at a computer.

"Hello, my darling." a man says as he enters the building.

"Hello, Eobard." the woman says, not bothering to look up.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to use my real name?" Eobard says. "My name is Samuel Rosen here."

"It doesn't really matter what I call you." the woman says. "If anyone overhears us talking here neither of us will need a name, just a prison number."

"You really think a prison can hold me?" Eobard asks. "Not even the Time Masters could detain me for long."

"That was when you still had your powers, Samuel." the woman says. "Or have you finally managed to restore your connection to the Speed Force?"

"Somewhat." Eobard says. "However in order to fully restore my powers, I need to complete my plan. To that end, did you complete your mission?"

"Yes, I implanted the microchip in the girl without any problems." the woman says. "The chip cannot be detected by any means available in this time, and will not harm the girl in any way."

"Good." Eobard says. "Is it transmitting yet?"

"It is." the woman says. "We've already been able to access the mayor's home computer and will soon have back door access into every government computer system in the city. And even if they manage to discover the hack, the chip will keep making new ones. With absolutely no trace back to either of us."

"Good, the information we gather from this will help us cause the particle accelerator explosion." Eobard says. "After all these years, I'll fully regain my speed, your body will finally be healed and the both of us can return to our own time having vanquished our enemies."

"I know this already." the woman says. "Why are you repeating it?"

"Sorry." Eobard says. "It's just spending all that time with Harrison Wells, pretending to be his friend gets tiring. I was meant to be the ultimate Time Master. It's nice to be able to drop the act and talk to someone who understands me."

"Well just don't get any funny ideas." the woman says. "I know I don't look like much now, but when my body is healed, you're really not my type."

"No worries." Eobard says. "When I succeed, we'll both have our pick of partners to choose from."

"Just so we understand each other." the woman says. "By the way, our unwitting henchmen have all been killed correct?"

"Yes, the police killed them all." Eobard says, then checks his watch. "Well I need to get going. Contact me again when you've managed to get into the CCPD system."

"Of course." the woman says. With that Eobard speeds off, heading off to who knows where.

There was once a time when she would have killed him without hesitation. But those days were long over. Even if she could be healed, her previous life was over. She had used a device that the Time Masters had outlawed to save her own life. The device had killed six innocent people. Even though they were not integral to the timeline, the Time Masters would kill her for disobeying them.

So she now had no choice, she would have to work with Eobard Thawne in his plan. The one happy thought in all this is that she would be able to make two of the people who did this to her, suffer unimaginable agony.


	5. First Date

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So sorry for the delay. I struggled a bit... OK a lot with this chapter. In fact I didn't like the first version so much I scrapped all of it following the part where Barry picked Caitlin up. I then finally found inspiration and feel the date scene is much better than the first version, which I absolutely hated. Future chapters should be coming much more quickly now. As for when Caitlin becomes a superhero, it is still some way off. I want to build the Caitlin-Barry relationship up, and not show it in flashbacks as in some other stories. I hope everyone who loves the Caitlin-Barry relationship enjoy these chapters, and for action fans who want to see Caitlin become a hero, hang in there it's coming. Though the Caitlin-Barry relationship will suffer a bit in those chapters as Barry will still be in his coma for nine months. Also I don't recall if they ever mentioned what Barry's mother did for a living or how his parents met, so forgive me for taking some liberties. As for the mystery woman in the last chapter, the only hint I'll give you is it not an original character, it's an established character from the Arrowverse.

On the following Saturday evening, Barry was in his lab feeling a bit nervous. It was a long time since he had a date and hoped he had planned things correctly. He hadn't seen Caitlin since the end of her celebration party as she was going for work very early and leaving work late for the entire week as she started to lay the groundwork for her project. The two had talked over the phone a couple of times and Caitlin had told him that work might be hectic for the next month or so, but once everything was in place her schedule would be normalized again.

"Hey Barry." Captain Singh says as he enters his lab. "How is the analysis coming?"

"It's done." Barry says with a sigh.

"Not good news I take it?" Singh asks.

"No." Barry says. "I've analyzed everything we found three times, but there were no traces of DNA and the ropes used were generic and could have been picked up from any hardware or department store in town."

"Whoever these guys are, they're good." Captain Singh says. "I've had a few of the detectives looking for similar MOs, and it fits the pattern of isolated robberies going back ten years all across the country."

"Ten years?" Barry asks in shock. "How could it be going on that long?"

"Well it's not confirmed they're all connected yet, but there were only one or two robberies in each town and the robberies were spaced apart by six months or more." Captain Singh says.

"But we've had ten robberies in the past month." Barry says.

"And that's not counting another five suspected attempts that were thwarted by security systems." Captain Singh says. "If it is indeed the same group they're accelerating their heists. Maybe you'll have more luck when your help starts. No matter how good you are, a fresh pair of eyes could never hurt."

"What do you mean when my help starts?" Barry asks.

"I didn't tell you?" Captain Singh asks, then thinks. "Right, I was about to tell you when the report of the most recent robbery came in. The new test program I told you about is going to start this Monday. You'll be getting three new CSI-cops."

"CSI-cops?" Barry asks in confusion.

"Trained police officers who also have scientific backgrounds." Captain Singh says. "They're cross-trained in both police work and CSI work, so they can do either."

"So I'm being sidelined?" Barry asks.

"Not at all." Captain Singh says. "You're being promoted. These officers are new to CSI work and they'll also be doing regular police work in addition to CSI work, so you'll be in charge of training them and overseeing their work."

"Do I get a raise?" Barry asks hopefully.

"Actually yes." Captain Singh. "Since you'll be taking on a new supervisory role, you'll salary will be increasing by 15%."

"Really?" Barry asks in surprise.

"Yes." Captain Singh says. "Anyway, you will also be assigned a detective who will be their direct supervisor for police related matters. He's the same age as you and is a transfer from another police department. He has a very good record and it was decided he would be a perfect fit for this new program. Hopefully you two will get along, as you will be working together a lot."

"I see." Barry says.

"By the way, is that a new suit?" Captain Singh asks.

"Yes." Barry says. "How did you know?"

"The price tag is still on it." Singh replies.

"Oh." Barry says, then removes the tag. Captain Singh notices that his hair is also combed very nicely and there is a bouquet of flowers laying on his desk.

"I take it you asked that girl... Caitlin, was it, out on a date?" Captain Singh asks.

"Actually she asked me before I could work up the nerve." Barry says.

"I see." Captain Singh says. "So where is she taking you?"

"I actually planned the date." Barry says.

"I thought the person who did the asking was responsible for planning the date." Captain Singh says. "This isn't the fifties after all."

"She told me that I could plan it because she was super busy at work." Barry says. "Not that I'm not busy here myself, but she was just promoted and is heading up her first major project so..."

"Barry calm down." Captain Singh says. "You need to stop acting so nervous."

"Sorry." Barry says. "It's just that I haven't had a lot of luck with members of the opposite sex. If you start counting from the night we met, this relationship has already lasted longer than any of my others."

"I can tell." Captain Singh says. "Listen, just relax and be yourself. This girl and you get along right?"

"Yes." Barry replies. "She and I really click and share a lot of the same interests."

"Well there you have it, just try to act like you have during all the other times you just hung out." Singh says.

"OK." Barry says, then pauses. "Uh, sir. Why are you acting so... different to me?"

"You mean nicer?" Singh asks. "I know I can come across as a bit of a hard ass sometimes, but I also have a nice side and care about the people who work under me. Just don't expect me to treat you like this all the time, especially when you're late."

"Of course not sir." Barry says.

"You don't have to call me sir when we're having a personal conversation." the captain says. "You can call me David... but only when we're having personal conversations."

"Yes sir... I mean David." Barry says. "That's just weird."

"Yeah." the captain agrees. "Maybe you can just stick to captain. Anyway, Joe also told me to keep an eye out for you while both he and Iris are out of the country."

"Have you heard from Joe?" Barry asks.

"Not directly." Captain Singh says. "Just from the head of the task force he was assigned to. He's deep undercover in Europe and may be gone for months."

"You know I still don't understand why Joe was selected for this undercover assignment." Barry says. "I mean he knows the criminal, but undercover work in foreign countries isn't really his specialty."

"Don't ask me." Captain Singh. "I'm in the dark about this as much as you are. But someone high up in the federal government decided that Joe was the best person for this job, so he went. Given how highly classified this whole operation is neither of us are ever likely to know the details about why he was chosen or what exactly he's doing."

"I see." Barry says. "I just hope he's OK. It's been tough being out of contact with both him and Iris for so long."

"Why are you out of contact with Iris?" Singh asks. "Can't you e-mail or text her?"

"No. They're combining their overseas trip with a sociology project. Students are supposed to be learning what it was like for people to travel overseas 40 or 50 years ago when there was no internet and foreign phone calls were very expensive." Barry says. "They're not supposed to have any contact with their friends or family members except in cases of emergency. Of course the school said this project is on the honor system as they can't really enforce it... but Iris and most of the students in the project are determined to follow the rules."

"Got it." Singh says. "Well in any case you better get going, you don't want to be late for your date."

"Right." Barry says. "Well see you on Monday, captain." With that Barry exits the lab to head off for his date.

"You forgot the flowers!" Singh yells after him.

"Thanks." Barry says as he returns for the flowers and then heads off again. Captain Singh just shakes his head as he watches him go, wondering when he started caring for the kid before heading off to see if the detectives on the case had any more luck finding witnesses than Barry did with the evidence.

* * *

Meanwhile Caitlin was at her apartment finishing up getting ready. Lily and Jesse were also helping. Cisco had volunteered to help as well, saying that he could give a guy's perspective on how she looked after she was ready. Caitlin thought that was a thoughtful suggestion, but Lily squashed it saying there were some things that were for girls only.

Caitlin thought about over-ruling her friend, but decided that in exchange for Cisco being left out of helping her get ready, he would be the first one she called to let know how the date had went. Cisco accepted the compromise better than she thought he would, but he was still a bit put out.

Lily and Jesse had spent the entire day shopping with her as both Lily and Jesse were horrified to discover her wardrobe was severely lacking in what they termed suitable date clothes. On this she had to agree with them, she had a couple of outfits suitable for going out clubbing, but the rest of her clothes were mainly work clothes. So, she ended up spending the entire day shopping with her two friends. Ivy would have joined them, but she had flew out to the Amazon jungle two days prior, to gather research specimens.

The two picked out a strapless blue dress that both Lily and Jesse agreed would leave Barry speechless. However, they didn't stop there, insisting she pick out clothes for future dates. By the end of the day she had spent over $4,000 on an entire new wardrobe. Spending so much on clothes was a bit shocking to her, but she hadn't really splurged on anything before and with her new raise, she had decided she could afford it, as she loved all the outfits the three of them picked out.

The day went well, until Lily dragged her to the lingerie shop to pick out something in case the date went very well.

"It's only our first date." Caitlin protested.

"Your first date that you're calling a date, but when you add up that lunch date you had as well as all the morning and after work coffees you shared, this is like the twentieth date." Lily says. "It's not like you're going out with a complete stranger."

Caitlin admitted she had a point, but still tried to argue further. But she somehow lost, and ended buying up some very risqué things that weren't really her style at all.

"Well I think you're ready." Jesse says, as she finishes up with her hair.

Caitlin looks at herself in the mirror and looked stunned. Jesse and Lily had really done their work well. Her hair was tied up in a pretty bun and her make-up was flawlessly done.

"Thanks guys." Caitlin says.

"You're welcome." Lily says. "But you look a little nervous."

"It's just those black lace undergarments you bought me." Caitlin says. "I haven't really wore anything like this before."

"So you did end up wearing them." Lily says. "I'm sure Barry will love them."

"I'm still not expecting things to get that far tonight." Caitlin says, though she is a bit conflicted. Lily had a point that the two had gotten to know each other pretty well, as the two had talked a lot. But on the other hand, she didn't want to rush things. This was their first official romantic date. Should she count their previous conversations as part of the romantic relationship, if so than it might be appropriate to... She quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head. Over thinking this wouldn't do any good.

"I'm putting that out of my mind." Caitlin says. "That will happen in its own time whether it's tonight or on a future date. Why are you pushing so hard on this, anyway?"

"Because I'm your friend and I don't want you to miss out on something great." Lily says. "Barry's a great guy and he's the first one you've been serious about in ages. But maybe you're right and I have been pushing it too hard. I promise not to tease you about it again. You should both be ready before you have sex."

"Thank you." Caitlin says.

"He's here." Jesse, who was looking out the window, says. A few seconds later the doorbell rang.

Caitlin heads to the door and finds Barry standing there wearing a fancy suit. "Hello Cait." Barry says, then takes in her outfit. "Wow! You look stunning."

"Thanks." Caitlin says. "You look pretty handsome yourself."

"Well, shall we be off?" Barry asks. "Your carriage awaits." he says pointing to a parked car in front of the house.

"I thought you didn't own a car." Caitlin says.

"I don't." Barry admits. "It belongs to Joe. He said I should feel free to use it anytime I wanted while he was out of the country. Normally I stick with the subway and walking, but I decided that wouldn't really be date-appropriate."

"True." Caitlin says.

"Have fun you two." Lily says.

"Yeah, and don't forget to call to let us know how it went." Jesse adds in.

"I will." Caitlin says, and the two were off. "So, where are you taking me?" she asks once they are in the car and Barry has started driving.

"It's a surprise." Barry says as he continues driving the car. "I really hope you like what I have planned, I'm a bit nervous about it."

"I can tell. You seem really nervous." Caitlin says.

"Well I haven't really planned all that many dates." Barry admits. "I was telling the captain earlier that if you count the night we met than this relationship has lasted than any of my other relationships."

"Really?" Caitlin asks in surprise. "I haven't exactly had a lot of luck with the opposite sex myself, but I've certainly had relationships that lasted longer than that and I would think that you would have had more luck too. I mean your smart, kind, considerate, and very handsome. I would think any woman would jump at the chance to date you."

"Thanks." Barry says. "But you're the first woman who said that to me."

"Really?" Caitlin asks. "You must not have dated very intelligent women in the past."

"Well I wouldn't say they were unintelligent, just not scientific geniuses like yourself." Barry says. "With you when I bring up a new scientific discovery I read about, you debate the points with me; with the women I dated before, they would just look at me like I was crazy."

"That's not what I was referring to. They must not have been very intelligent to let someone like you get away." Caitlin says. "Their loss is my gain."

"Thank you for saying that." Barry says. "That's a real boost to my ego."

Barry then stops the car. "We're here." he says.

Caitlin looks around and is confused. "Um, Barry there's nothing here." Caitlin says.

"Just trust me." Barry says.

Caitlin gets out of the car and sees they are in a park nearby the lake. She then notices Barry take several bags of food out of the car and walk over to a blanket that has been set up nearby, with plates and some candles.

"A moonlight picnic?" Caitlin asks in surprise.

"Yes." Barry says. "Do you like it?"

"Well it certainly is different from anything I was expecting." Caitlin says. "It definitely seems romantic, but are you sure it's safe here?"

"It's fine." Barry says. "This is a low crime area. And it is patrolled by the police regularly so we'll be safe here."

"OK." Caitlin says as she sits down on the blanket.

"I wanted to cook the food myself, but work has been so hectic lately I didn't have a chance." Barry says. "But I did manage to get takeout from Viaggio's."

"Viaggio's?" Caitlin asks. "That's the most exclusive five-star restaurant in the city. And I know for a fact that they don't do takeout."

"Normally they don't." Barry says. "But you remember when I helped to find the mayor's kidnapped daughter?"

"Of course." Caitlin says. "That isn't something one forgets."

"Well it turns out the mayor's sister is the owner of the restaurant." Barry says. "I made a call thinking that would be a good place to have our first date, but it turns out the restaurant is booked six months in advance."

"I know. Harry and Tess go there frequently." Caitlin says. "It has great food and has a romantic setting and is also a great place to take out of town clients and investors. I've never been there myself though."

"Well Dr. Wells and Dr. Morgan-Wells are among the city's most elite residents, so I guess it makes sense for them to be regulars at the best restaurant in the city." Barry says. "Anyway, the owner found out I tried to book a reservation and called me personally to offer to try to bump one of their other reservations for me, but I wouldn't have felt right doing that. So I mentioned I was planning a moonlight picnic instead, and she offered to provide the food for a special price instead."

"That was nice of her." Caitlin says.

"Yes, it was." Barry says. "I checked to make sure it didn't violate any policies at CCPD, as I thought it might. But it turned out it didn't, so I accepted her offer."

"Well I'm really looking forward to the food." Caitlin says, as Barry starts putting the food out. "I've always wanted to try it, but somehow I wouldn't have felt right going by myself or just bringing a friend."

"Well I hope the food lives up to your expectations." Barry says, as he lights the candles.

Caitlin sits down on the blanket and selects her first bit of food from the selection of food Barry had brought her. "This is excellent." Caitlin says. "It is as every bit as good as Tess always told me it was."

"You know, sometimes I'm still amazed at how casually you can say your bosses first names." Barry says, beginning to eat. "Drs. Wells and Morgan-Wells were my idols when I was studying science in high school. My boss told me I could call him by his first name tonight when we were having personal conversations and it just felt awkward."

"Well Harry and Tess always tried to make their employees feel like they were part of a family." Caitlin says. "They always said that science is a team sport that no matter how talented an individual was, they couldn't win the game by themselves without a strong team that respected them."

"I suppose that's true." Barry says.

"But I suppose being a police officer is a bit different." Caitlin says. "The captain has to maintain control of his officers and they're likely to face a lot more life-and-death scenarios, facing armed suspects all the time."

"Yes, that is also true." Barry says. "But they don't have quite as many shoot-outs as you would think from watching TV shows. Many of the officers I know rarely shoot their guns, thankfully."

"That's reassuring. Watching the news lately, one would think..." Caitlin begins then trails off. "Never mind, bringing up negative news stories will definitely lower the mood of the date."

"Yeah, we don't want a repeat of our first lunch date when we really brought down the mood." Barry laughs as he selects another dish from the food he had brought. "This really is the best food I've had in years."

"So how did your day go?" Caitlin asks. "I know you had to work today, so I hope you're not too tired."

"I'm not exhausted, but I am a bit disheartened." Barry says. "I worked all day but wasn't able to find any clues that will lead to the tech robbers we're after."

"You mean the group of robbers that have been targeting major tech companies and stealing hundreds of thousands dollars worth of equipment?" Caitlin asks. "And you don't have any leads on them?"

"Well no forensics clues at least." Barry says. "I'm not appraised of all the work the detectives are doing, but so far we're at a dead end."

"That's not good news." Caitlin says. "There have been three attempts to break into STAR Labs in the past two weeks. We've beefed up security, but it's still scary to know those guys are no closer to being caught."

"Don't worry." Barry says. "They'll slip up eventually and we'll get them. And if you're worried about them, you can be comforted with the fact that no one has seen them as of yet and they also haven't hurt anyone. They appear to be just after electronics equipment."

"Well that is still somewhat reassuring." Caitlin says. "But this is veering into the depressing conversation. Did anything positive happen to you today?"

"Actually yes." Barry says. "Just as I was leaving for our date, the captain informed me that the police commissioner is rolling out a new test program at our department. It involves police officers trained in CSI work, so they could do both. I'm being put in charge of them of overseeing their CSI work, and I'm getting a 15% raise."

"Really?" Caitlin asks. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Barry says.

"So how do you feel about being put in charge of your own team?" Caitlin asks.

"Well from what I understand, I'll only be partially in charge of them." Barry says. "I'll be overseeing their CSI work, while another police officer will oversee their police work."

"But still you will be in charge of other people for the first time." Caitlin says. "I've been interviewing people all week to try and select my team members, and it's not an easy process."

"Well I won't have that problem, as from what the captain said they've already been selected." Barry says. "But now that you mention it, I am starting to feel a bit nervous. I mean I'm not really that good at talking to people."

"You could have fooled me." Caitlin says. "You talk to me without any problems."

"Yeah, but you're different." Barry says, then pauses. "I'm not sure why now, normally I get all flustered when I try to talk to women I like."

"Like I told you before, you just haven't dated the right women in the past." Caitlin says.

"You may be right." Barry says, then thinks back. "And maybe part of it is I was trying too hard. In my past relationships I think I was always too focused on trying to do and saying the right things, wherein I wasn't trying to force anything with you."

The two finish eating, talking about various things. When the two finish eating, Barry motions for Caitlin to get up. "Do you want to go for a boat ride?" he asks, pointing to a small nearby rowboat.

"I'd love to." Caitlin says and the two get on the boat.

Barry rows the boat to the middle of the lake, and Caitlin takes in how pretty everything is. "You know I've never been on a boat before." Caitlin remarks. "The view is very beautiful out here."

"Not as beautiful as you." Barry says.

Caitlin stares at Barry for a moment. "Now you can't tell me that that wasn't a cheesy line." she says.

"OK, so maybe it was." Barry admits as Caitlin bursts out laughing. "But you are beautiful."

"Thank you." Caitlin says. "You're pretty handsome yourself."

Barry blushes a bit at that. Building up his nerve, Barry leans over to kiss her. The kiss starts out slow, but quickly heats up. The two kiss for a few minutes, before the boat rocks a bit and the two are forced to break apart before they accidentally end up in the lake.

"Perhaps a boat in the middle of the lake wasn't the best place for our first kiss." Barry says, out of breath.

"I think it was perfect." Caitlin says, her heart racing. "This really is the perfect romantic setting. How did you even come up with it?"

"Well I wish I could take the credit, but it really was my dad's idea." Barry says, then pauses. "Shortly before my mother died, I asked her where Dad had taken her on their first date. I don't really remember what brought up the subject, but I do remember asking."

Caitlin sets down her fork down, silent, as that was the first time Barry had told her that his mother was dead. She had suspected that both of his parents had died, but he had never mentioned what happened to them. She could have tried to find out the information online, but felt that would have been a breach of trust. Barry would tell her in his own time what happened to them.

"I remember her smile as she described the date." Barry says. "Both of them were still in medical school and the two had been partnered on several assignments. After one of them my father had asked her out. He didn't have a lot of money at the time, not enough to take her out to a fancy restaurant. So instead he made a home cooked meal and they had a candlelit picnic by moonlight at the lake near the college. They then spent hours talking under the moonlight about various things. My mom told me it was the most magical date she had ever had."

"That sounds very nice." Caitlin says. "But I'm sorry to bring up bad memories."

"They're not bad." Barry says. "I can honestly say this was one of the first times in years that I thought about my mother without thinking about the horrible nature of her death."

Caitlin bit her tongue to stop herself from asking about how his mother died, as that would definitely ruin the date.

"You're the first woman I met who I thought about doing this for." Barry says quietly. "I think my mother would have really liked you."

"What was she like?" Caitlin asks.

"She was very kind." Barry says. "Both of my parents were doctors. My mother specialized in treating children. My father was a surgeon."

"Did you ever think about following in their footsteps?" Caitlin asks.

"Sometimes." Barry says. "But they both told me to follow my own path and..."

Before Barry can finish that sentence, there is a crash of thunder and the sky which was previously visible become engulfed in black clouds and there was a flash of lightning.

"That's strange." Barry says, looking up at the sky. "A second ago there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the forecast didn't call for rain at all."

"I've never seen the weather turn this bad this fast." Caitlin says. As she says this a few drops of rain begin to fall. "You better get us back to shore."

"Right." Barry says. He starts to row the boat back to shore, but by the time they had gotten there, it had started to pour. Once on shore, both Barry and Caitlin quickly ran to the car and got in, both of them drenched.

"Well that didn't go as planned." Barry says.

"Well with the exception of the rainstorm, I think it was a great first date." Caitlin says. "But we should really get going and get out of these wet things."

"Right." Barry says. "I'll drop you off at home right away."

With that Barry starts driving back to her place. A few minutes later, the two are back at Caitlin's apartment.

"Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Barry says, then sneezes.

"Nonsense." Caitlin says. "You're coming in with me. Your apartment is twenty minutes away. You need to dry off now."

"But..." Barry begins.

"Don't argue with me." Caitlin says. "I'm a doctor. You'll catch cold if you don't dry off soon. Besides, I'm not quite ready for the date to end."

Barry follows Caitlin into her apartment without any further argument and takes a look around. It is definitely nicer than his apartment.

"You can use the bathroom to dry off." Caitlin says.

Barry enters the bathroom and strips off his clothes and starts to dry off, when he realizes he doesn't have anything to change into. He wraps the towel around himself and exits the bathroom.

"Um, Caitlin. What am I supposed to wear?" he asks.

"Well you could wear nothing." Caitlin says as she exits her bedroom. Barry's heart stops as he sees that she is wearing nothing but some very sexy lingerie.

Barry is speechless for a moment as Caitlin slowly walks over to him. She is moving her body in such a way as to show off all her assets, and he feels his body respond.

"I know this is a bit forward of me, and you should feel perfectly free to turn me down if you're not ready." Caitlin says before reaching him. "I know this is our first official date, but really we've been kind of dating for over a month, we just haven't called it that. But if you don't want me to continue my seduction, just let me know and I'll stop."

"Well like I said earlier, this relationship has already lasted longer than any other of my others." Barry says. "So feel free to continue your seduction."

"OK." Caitlin says. "I should warn you about though, my seduction techniques do use a lot of very cheesy dialogue and when I unleash my naughty side, I do get a bit intense."

Before Barry can ask what she meant by that, Caitlin had already pressed up against him. "I've dried off, but still feel a bit cold." Caitlin says in a sultry tone that Barry hadn't heard her use before. "Won't you come to my bedroom and help me warm up?"

The next day when Barry had time to reflect on it, he would realize that that line was indeed very cheesy. But with Caitlin pressed up against him, all he could feel was his intense arousal. Caitlin then proceeded to remove the towel from him and drag him into the bedroom.


	6. Sunday Afternoon

Beta Needed: I need a new beta author, if anyone is interested or knows someone please PM me. This chapter hasn't been betaed, so please forgive any mistakes.

The next morning Caitlin woke up feeling very relaxed and satisfied. She looked over at Barry, who looked very cute when he slept. Looking at the clock she noticed it was 11:00. She hadn't slept in this late for a long time, but she didn't have anywhere to be today, so she figured she let it slide.

She felt her stomach rumbling and she felt famished, deciding to let Barry sleep in for a little while longer while she made breakfast. Getting up, she felt a bit sore. It had been awhile since she had sex, and she may have gotten a bit carried away. Barry was a bit surprised at how aggressive she was in bed, but she wasn't kidding about how she got when she let her wild side loose. After being a bit surprised, he turned out to be very eager. She could tell he wasn't as experienced as she was, but he was a lot more considerate than some of her past lovers and was a very quick learner.

Blushing slightly as she remembered last night, she gave a quick kiss to Barry, who didn't even stir. She really had tired him out. She then exited the bedroom and made a quick stop in the bathroom. Looking down she saw Barry's suit, which was still dripping wet. Looking at the label on the suit, she found that it wasn't dry clean only, so she quickly put on a robe and headed down to the laundry room and threw it into the dryer. She then headed back into her apartment and started on breakfast. Technically it was time for lunch, but she preferred to start the day with breakfast.

As she was finishing up making it, she heard a knock on her door. She went over to it to answer it to find Cisco and Lily standing there.

"Hey Caitlin." Lily says. "Can we come in?"

"Yeah." Cisco says. "You promised you'd call to let us know how your date went."

"I know." Caitlin says. "And I promise I will call you, but now is not the best time to come in."

"Why not?" Cisco asks.

Lily takes a quick look at her friend, who was glowing and looks at her in surprise. "Despite my teasing, I really didn't think you really would." she admits.

"Wouldn't what?" Cisco asks. "And why can't we come in?"

"Really?" Lily asks.

Cisco is about to open his mouth to respond when he finally gets it. "Oh..."

"OK, now that I'm thoroughly embarrassed, would you mind leaving?" Caitlin asks. "I promise I'll call and give you all the details of my date later."

"I really don't need all the details." Cisco says.

"I meant details of the date." Caitlin says. "Now about what happened after."

"Oh, right." Cisco says.

"Well I wouldn't mind hearing some of those details." Lily says.

"And at the risk of sounding sexist, I will leave those details firmly to the realm of girl talk." Cisco says.

"I don't think either Caitlin or myself have a problem with that in this case." Lily says. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'll treat you to a pizza."

"You're on." Cisco says as the two of them leave.

Caitlin then closed the door and headed back to the kitchen and eat breakfast. She debated on whether to wake Barry up or not, but decided to let him sleep and wake up on his own. As she was finishing up, Barry entered the room wearing the robe Jesse had gotten her as a gag gift for her last birthday. It was pink and had hearts and unicorns on it.

"I don't really think that suits you." Caitlin says, trying to stifle a laugh at the way he looked in it.

"Very funny." Barry says. "But it's not like I had anything else to wear."

"Well you could have just come out here naked." Caitlin says suggestively.

"Um..." Barry stammers. "I'm not really the type of guy to walk around naked in their home, especially when I'm not in my own home."

"You're cute when you get flustered." Caitlin says playfully, before returning to his normal tone. "But I totally understand. I'm not the type of person to walk around naked in my apartment either. I made a quick trip to the laundry room and put your suit in the dryer. It should be done in about another fifteen minutes."

"You put my suit in the dryer?" Barry asks. "But won't that ruin it?"

"No. It says it was machine washable and dryable." Caitlin says, then pauses. "It was a new suit, wasn't it?"

"Um, yeah." Barry says. "I'm kind of embarrassed to admit I bought a new suit for our date."

"Don't be." Caitlin says. "The outfit I wore was new as well. Lily, Jesse, and I had a daylong shopping trip before our date yesterday, the first one I've done in ages and you wouldn't believe what I spent on new clothes."

"How much did you spend?" Barry asks.

At this Caitlin becomes slightly embarrassed. "Um, I'll tell you one day." Caitlin says. "Maybe next year on our one year anniversary."

"OK." Barry says.

Realizing what she just said, Caitlin blushes. "Um, I don't mean to be that forward. I mean we just had our first official date and here I'm already planning our one year anniversary." she says.

At this Barry laughs. "I much prefer that type of thinking to the way I thought in past relationships, which tended to lean towards how long I went before I screwed up and got dumped."

Caitlin is not exactly how she should respond to that. "Honestly, you must have really dated some really unintelligent women in the past if they can't see how amazing you are." she finally says.

"Thanks again." Barry says, shying away. He still wasn't used to woman complimenting him or thinking that he was a catch.

"I made breakfast." Caitlin says. "I know you must be famished."

"Breakfast sounds wonderful." Barry says as he. "But you should have woken me up, I would have helped."

"Nonsense this is my house and I'm perfectly capable of cooking breakfast by myself." Caitlin says. "How about we make a compromise when we stay at my place, I'll make breakfast and when I stay over at your place, you can be in charge of making the breakfast."

"That sounds fair." Barry agrees, then sits down. He then starts eating his breakfast. "Last night really was intense. None of my other girlfriends were even as half as... enthusiastic as you."

"Thanks." Caitlin says. "You were pretty amazing yourself."

At this Barry blushes a bit as he remembered last night. Certainly no woman he had ever been with had been as vocal as Caitlin had been. "So do you have any plans for today?" Barry asks.

"Not really." Caitlin says. "I do have movie night with Cisco, Lily, and Jesse tonight. We've been having one or two a week for the past month. Pamela usually comes by as well, but she's out of town. HR and Tess come too sometimes, depending on their schedules."

"That sounds like fun." Barry says.

"If you want you can come too." Caitlin says.

"Are you sure?" Barry asks. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

"No, it's fine." Caitlin says. "Cisco told me I should start inviting you after the party last week, but I've been super busy at work this week. I know that my friends want to get to know you better."

"OK." Barry says. "Your friends all seem pretty nice and I'd like to get to know them a bit better. Although I'd think I be pretty nervous to meet Dr. Morgan-Wells."

"Well don't be." Caitlin says. "I was a bit nervous too during my first meeting with them, I mean they are two of the biggest names in the scientific community. And if all goes according to plan with the particle accelerator, they'll be referred to this centuries' Einsteins. But no matter how famous or successful you become, underneath it, they're still just regular people."

"I suppose you're right." Barry says. "So is there anything you'd like to do today in the meantime?"

"Well now that the storm is over, we could head back to the lake." Caitlin says. "I'd love to see it in the daytime."

"That would be nice. Although we should double check the weat... oh no!" Barry says as a thought occurred to him.

"What is it?" Caitlin asks, noticing that he suddenly has an upset look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"We were in such a hurry to get out of the rain last night, that I forgot to tie the boat back up." Barry says. "With the way the wind was blowing, it could be in the middle of the lake by now."

"That's not good." Caitlin says. "Whose boat was it anyway?"

"I rented it from a small rental company." Barry says, wincing. "If we don't find it, I'll be liable for the whole thing."

"That would suck." Caitlin says. "But that rowboat wasn't that big. Surely it can't be too expensive."

"To be honest, I have no idea how much rowboats cost." Barry says. "But the company is run by a small couple who builds the boats by hand, so it may be more expensive. I suppose I should head back to the lake and see if I can find it."

"I'll come with you." Caitlin says. "Then if we find it, we can finish the boat ride."

"That sounds good." Barry says as the two head into the living room.

"Let me go get your suit from the laundry room so you can change first." Caitlin says.

"Thanks." Barry says. "But I should probably still go home and change into something else for the day."

"Good idea." Caitlin says. "I'll go get your suit, so you can put that on to go home. Then I'll get dressed and meet you out by the lake."

Barry is about to respond to that when there is a knock on the door.

"I wonder who that can be." Caitlin says as she goes to answer the door. She finds that Tess was standing there.

"Caitlin I have big news." she says as she enters the apartment before Caitlin can stop her. "Dr. Volheim of the national medical research institute read about your project and wants to officially endorse..."

She stops speaking when she notices Barry standing there. "Um... hi." Tess says, embarrassed and then turns to Caitlin. "I'm really sorry. I didn't know you had company."

"That's OK." Caitlin says, trying to tamp down her embarrassment. "Tess, this is my boyfriend Barry Allen. Barry this is Dr. Tess Wells-Morgan."

Caitlin looks at Barry who is blushing bright red. "It's an honor to meet you, Dr. Wells-Morgan." Barry says. "I've imagined meeting you for a long time, but this wasn't quite how I pictured it."

"Well I should hope not." Dr. Wells-Morgan jokes. "If you pictured meeting me while you wearing a pink robe with hearts and unicorns on it, you're either psychic or a weirdo."

"Um..." Barry says.

"That was a joke." Tess says, then turns back to Caitlin. "Isn't that the gag gift Jesse got you for your last birthday?"

"It is." Caitlin says. "Barry's wearing it because he took me on a moonlight picnic last night and we got drenched in the sudden storm."

"Yeah, that really was weird. I've lived in Central City for over a decade and I don't recall ever having a storm like that they came out of nowhere." Tess says. "The meteorologists at S.T.A.R. Labs are all puzzled by it too. They haven't been able to find any reason that the storm just suddenly appeared like that."

"That is strange." Caitlin says.

"Um, when you came in you mentioned something about Dr. Volheim." Barry says.

"That's right." Tess says excitedly. "He and his staff go over all new and promising medical research ideas. He read Caitlin's proposal and thinks it shows real promise. He wants to meet with Caitlin to discuss her ideas and give her some recommendations on subjects for the test study."

"Really?" Caitlin asks.

"That's great." Barry says, then frowns. "But wasn't he due to go to the international space station tomorrow for a year long medical research project?"

"He is." Tess says. "But he's making time in his schedule to meet with Caitlin today. That's why I came here personally. S.T.A.R. Labs private jet is going to fly us directly to Florida. If we want to meet with him, we have to leave for the airport within ten minutes. Caitlin, you should get ready and maybe grab a quick overnight bag. We'll only be staying there for one day."

"Right." Caitlin says, then turns to Barry.

"Guess that make-up trip to the lake will have to wait until next week." Barry says, smiling.

"I'm really sorry." Caitlin says.

"Don't worry about it." Barry says. "I get called into work at the last minute all the time. Now you better go get dressed so you don't miss you're meeting."

"Thanks, Barry." Caitlin says, then kisses him quickly. "I'll call you tomorrow to tell you how it went and to reschedule movie night."

"No problem." Barry says. "But also remember that I also start my new promotion tomorrow. Like you I'll probably be busy with work for the next few weeks until things get settled, but I'll make as much time as I can for you."

"I'll do the same." Caitlin says, the turns to go to her bedroom before turning back to Tess. "Um, if you don't mind could you go down to the laundry room and get Barry's suit out of the dryer? I really don't need the rumors that will start if a man wearing a pink robe with hearts and unicorns came out of my apartment."

"No problem." Tess says. Before Barry can respond both Caitlin and Tess leave the room. About two minutes later Tess enters the room holding his suit.

"I think you're suit needs to be ironed, but other than that it appears to be fine." Tess says.

"Thank you." Barry says taking the suit. "You know this is really kind of embarrassing. Having the first time you see me in a pink robe."

"Well I know it must be embarrassing, but don't worry I promise I won't hold this against you when we talk in the future. And this isn't the first time I've seen you." Tess says. "I was with Caitlin at the bar the night the two of you met and saw the two of you chatting."

"You were?" Barry asks, then pauses.

"Yes." Tess says. "And Caitlin speaks very highly of you. I try to take an interest in all of my employees, but Caitlin is especially talented and brilliant."

Before Barry can respond Caitlin comes out of the apartment, dressed for the important meeting she was heading to. She was also carrying a small suitcase.

"Are you ready?" Tess asks.

"I am." Caitlin replies. "I'll call you later tonight or early tomorrow morning."

"OK." Barry says. "Have a good trip."

"Oh one more thing." Caitlin says, handing Barry a key. "Here's a key to my apartment, so you can lock up when you leave."

Caitlin then gives Barry a quick kiss on the lips and heads off with Dr. Wells-Morgan.

* * *

Two hours later Barry was back in his apartment. After leaving Caitlin's apartment, he made a brief stop home to change and then headed out to the lake to see what happened to the boat. To his relief the old couple who ran the rental business had found the boat, and it wasn't damaged at all. And they also weren't mad at him at all for loosing the boat as they understand that the storm came out of nowhere.

So now he found himself back in his apartment with nothing to do for the rest of the day. He decided to take this opportunity to work on his mother's case. He started as he usually did by reading the Central City Citizen. He started reading when he noticed an article and let out a curse.

He quickly went over to his calendar and saw that he had indeed circled the previous Monday with a red circle on it.

"Good going Allen." he mutters to himself. "How could you screw this up?"

He quickly grabbed the keys to Joe's car and headed out. He then decided that with his new raise, he would finally buy his own car.

The article he had seen was an article stating that Iron Heights Prison had finally reopened to visitors after being closed for a six weeks after a major prison riot left two prisoners dead and several guards heavily wounded, one of whom would be paralyzed for life. Barry could have sworn that the reopening was tomorrow and not last Monday, but apparently with all that had been happening he got the dates mixed up.

Half-an-hour later he had entered Iron Heights prison, feeling a bit out of sorts. He had been coming here at least once a week since he turned eighteen, not counting the time he was away at college and had never felt this rattled before. In the past few years he had become used to the procedures, but these new measures reminded him that this was indeed a maximum security prison.

"The new procedures have you rattled, don't they Mr. Allen?" a guard asks.

"Yeah they do." Barry says. "Wait you know me?" Barry asks in surprise.

"Well I would know your name as all visitors are required to sign in." the guard says. "But aye, beyond that I know you. Visitors never pay attention to the guards you know. I was actually the first guard you met on the first day you visited here all these years ago."

"I'm sorry." Barry says.

"Nothing to be sorry for." the guard says. "I'm just glad you decided to come here today."

"Why?" Barry asks. "What happened? Is my father OK?"

"Your father's fine lad." the guard answers. "It's just today is my last day. I'm retiring after today and moving down to Florida with my wife."

"Oh congratulations." Barry says, then pauses. "What's your name?"

"Bob." the guard says. "You know coming in this past month was hard. The guard who was paralyzed was a friend of mine. Worked with him for five years."

"Do you know how's he doing?" Barry asks.

"Not too well." Bob says. "His wife is trying to help him as best she can, but he's not doing too well."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Barry says.

"And how about you?" Bob says. "You make any progress in finding you mother's real killer?"

"No." Barry says, despondently. "Wait, you know about that? And more importantly you believe me?"

"You mean about your father being innocent?" Bob asks. "Aye, I believe you. Working this job for thirty years, you get a feel for the prisoners. You see the ones who are defiant and are the ones likely to cause problems, the ones who truly regret their crimes, and then the people who should never been convicted in the first place. I've known your father since he arrived here, and his story hasn't changed since he arrived. He's been a model prisoner."

"Well why don't you say something to someone?" Barry asks.

"Tell what? To who? That according to my gut I think he's innocent. I'm just a guard, people are less likely to listen to my opinion than they were to yours." Bob says.

"You're right." Barry says after thinking it over for a minute. "But why didn't you ever tell me you believed my dad was innocent before now?"

"Because it wouldn't have changed anything. As a guard you're supposed to stay detached from the prisoners and for most of the times you succeed, but some just get to you." he shakes his head sadly. "I knew one of the inmates killed in that riot. He was arrested for a relatively minor offense and had just made parole. His wife gave birth to a girl the week after he was locked up and he was looking forward to seeing her for the first time. Two more days and he would have been out."

At this Barry is silent as the guard continues. "I would do something for your father if I could, but I'm no expert in forensics like you are and his story does sound impossible." he shakes his head. "I wish you luck with your quest though."

"Thank you." Barry says. He then leads Barry to the visitor's area, which had been completely redone since he was last here.

"Your father will be out in a moment." Bob says.

* * *

At that moment Henry Allen was sitting in his cell, reading a book when a guard came to his cell.

"You have a visitor." the guard says. "Come on."

Henry exits his cell with the guard looking at him warily. The guards had been on high alert lately, not that he could blame them with what happened with the riot. With a guard being paralyzed for life, all the prisoners were put on full lockdown and visitations were suspended while they reviewed and upgraded security procedures. After six weeks, visitations had been reinstated and starting tomorrow they were going to start allowing prisoners back into the exercise yard. Henry was looking forward to getting out of that cell and getting fresh air again.

After a moment Henry found himself in the visitation room, which had been completely redone. Henry saw his son sitting on the other side of the glass and felt a smile on his face.

"Hey Barry." Henry says as he sits down and picks up the phone that will allow him to. "There he is, my son the hero."

"What are you talking about?" Barry asks.

"I read an article about how you managed to find the mayor's kidnapped daughter." Henry says. "I'm very proud of you."

"Thanks." Barry says.

"Are you doing OK?" Henry asks in concern. "In the letter you sent me before they decided to cut off the mail, you said you would visit me on the first day visitations started up again. I was becoming a bit concerned about you not showing up."

"I'm sorry to worry you." Barry says sheepishly. "I got the dates wrong. I thought visitations weren't starting up again until tomorrow. I only realized it when I glanced at today's paper and saw that visitations started up again this past Monday."

"That's perfectly OK." Henry says. "How has work been lately. Any big cases?"

"There is one that's been giving me a bit of a problem." Barry says. "A group of organized thieves have been hitting scientific labs robbing millions of dollars worth of equipment. They've been leaving virtually no forensics evidence and the detectives aren't having much luck tracking them either."

"That must be rough." Henry says. "How is work going aside from that?"

"Well I just got promoted." Barry says.

"Really?" Henry asks.

"Yes I'm being put in charge of a new sort of test program that will train certain police officers in CSI work, so they can do either and help out when the lab is backed up." Barry says.

"And how are you handling it so far?" Henry asks curious.

"I haven't started yet." Barry says. "The captain only informed me of the promotion yesterday as I was leaving work. I'll be starting tomorrow."

"So how do you feel about that?" Henry asks.

"I'm both a bit excited and a bit nervous." Barry says. "Managing other people is a going to be a first for me. I have no idea of whether I'll get along with them or not. I'll also be working closely with a police detective who will be supervising the police side of the work. Up until now I've worked pretty much on my own."

"I'm sure you'll do fine." Henry says. "But here's some advice I have for you: since you'll be working closely with these people you should try to be more social with them. Don't push if they don't want to, but try to talk with them about their personal lives and invite them out after work sometimes."

"I'll do that." Barry says.

"Speaking of your social life, did you take my advice and go out to try to meet new people?" Henry asks, even though the answer was always the same. Barry was a bit anti-social due to his childhood of being known as a person whose father had murdered his mother in front of him. He told Joe that he should change Barry's last name and move him to a new school where his past wouldn't be known. But Joe had informed him that Barry refused, steadfastly proclaiming his father's innocence. He would always get into fights with the people at school for defending him. He tried to convince Barry himself when he started visiting him, but each time he refused and eventually he gave up asking him. Even after he moved on to college and met people who had no idea of his past, the damage was done and he had a hard time connecting to other people.

He was also determined to find out the truth of what happened to his mother, becoming a CSI and chasing down every impossible case trying to find out how the man in yellow moved. Henry was proud of his son because his work had managed to catch dozens of bad guys and save countless lives, but still he worried about him focusing on his mother's case to the exclusion of all else. He was expecting to hear the same excuse Barry always gave him, so he was a bit surprised when instead Barry smiled and began talking excitedly.

"Yes, I did." Barry says. "I went to out to a new theme bar that just opened up that is meant to cater to the scientific community. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings when I was walking and nearly bumped into a woman, causing her to spill her drink. I offered to buy her a new one and we started talking."

"Her name is Caitlin Snow." Barry continues. "She's a doctor, a bio-engineer at S.T.A.R. Labs who works on finding cures for new diseases."

Henry then listened for the next half-hour as Barry talked about this girl in great detail. He was pleasently surprised as Barry hadn't talked to him about any girls like this before besides Iris. Henry knew Barry had a crush on her when he was younger, but since he was in here, he had no way of knowing whether or not the crush had faded into mere friendship or blossomed into love. Henry had known Barry had dated a few girls before, but the relationships didn't last long and he couldn't recall if his son had even told him their names. But upon listening to Barry talk about this girl, he could see that he was halfway in love with her already.

"Well she certainly sounds like a nice girl." Henry says, when Barry finally stops talking. "Smart, funny, kind, and beautiful. Are you planning on asking her out?"

"Well I was going to, but she actually asked me out first." Barry says. "She told me I could plan the date though, since she was busy with work setting up her new project."

"So when is this date?" Henry asks.

"It was actually last night." Barry says, smiling.

"I take it from your smile that it went well." Henry says. "So where did you take her?"

"Um..." Barry says, his smile fading a little bit and becoming a bit sheepish. "Well I kind of took her out for a moonlight picnic and then for a boat ride."

At this Henry finds himself a bit stunned. If he doubted how his son had felt about this girl, that confirmed it. He knew that Nora had told Barry about their first date only a few days before she died, so for Barry to even consider recreating it must mean that he had very strong feelings for this woman.

"Are you upset?" Barry asks, when his father doesn't respond.

"Why would I be upset?" Henry asks. "I'm just a bit surprised."

"I worked all week to try to come up with a perfect date idea as I wanted our first date to be special, but nothing I thought of felt right." Barry says. "That's when I remembered what mom told me about your first date and it just felt right. Because of work though, I wasn't able to cook the food myself. I instead ordered take-out from a fancy restaurant. Everything went perfectly, well except for the rainstorm."

"I'm happy for you son." Henry says. "But I would think you'd rather spend your Sunday afternoon with this girl rather than in prison with you old man."

"Well Caitlin and I did make plans for today, but she had to go out of town for a last minute meeting." Barry admits. "But I'll always make time to visit you."

"Thank you." Henry says. "You didn't tell her about your mother's murder yet, did you?"

"Not yet. I kind of let slip that mom died horribly, but I didn't tell her any details yet." Barry then sighs. "But I suppose I'll have to tell her soon."

"I'm sure it will be fine." Henry says. The thing that hurt the most about his being in here was the hurt it cost his son. He knew it hurt him to know that his mother's killer was still free and no one else believed he even existed.

"Your time is up." one of the guards call up.

"Already?" Barry asks, looking at the clock. "I'm sorry, I didn't give you much of a chance to talk at all."

"That's perfectly fine." Henry says. "I'd much rather hear about your life anyway. It's not like much changes in here. I'm glad you're doing so well. I love you, son."

"I love you too dad." Barry says. "I'll visit again sometime next week. And maybe I'll bring a picture of Caitlin to show you."

"I'd like that." Henry says. He then goes with the guards as they come to escort him back to his cell, feeling happier than he had in years. His son had met a girl who he liked and from what Barry had told him, she liked him too. Though he doubted that his son would ever give up his quest to find the person who really killed his mother, at least he was starting to take the first steps towards moving forward and living his own life and that was all he could really ask for.


	7. The Proposal

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. I've decided to do the time jump and go straight ahead with the particle accelerator explosion. Just to note that how the explosion happens will be very different from the show. The explosion will take place in the next chapter (or at least the start of it, I might break what happens up into two chapters). Also just for reference, I've never flown on a plane before so if my descriptions of what it's like to fly is inaccurate please bare with me. Also I'm still looking for a beta, I had one helping me for a bit but they became too busy with work so if anyone is interested please PM me.

Barry was in his lab, hard at work, finishing up the last bit of his work. The young CSI was totally absorbed in what he was doing, so he didn't notice at first when a young man around his age entered the lab.

"Hey Barry." the man says, to get the CSI's attention.

Barry immediately recognizes the voice as one his closest friends, Eddie Thawne. He oversaw the CSI cop program with him, which included three members, Patty Spivot, Leonard Snart and Kiriko Nijima. It turned out to be a huge success, helping to solve countless cases by drastically reducing the amount of time it took to process evidence without significant increase to the police's budget.

Barry smiles at his friend, setting the DNA sample down. "Hey Eddie." Barry greets him.

"What are you still doing here?" Eddie asks, a confused expression etched over his features. He knew the CSI was dedicated to his job, and volunteered for overtime if they were working a big case, but this was a bit ridiculous. "Isn't your vacation supposed to start today?"

"It does start today." Barry says answers, moving on t the second sample. "But our flight doesn't leave until later this afternoon and Caitlin had to go in to work to handle some last minute details on her project. She suggested I come in here as well to make sure I hadn't forgotten to do anything before we leave. She told me in no uncertain terms there will be no discussion of work at all on this vacation."

"I'd obey her if I were you." Eddie comments, then his expression becomes curious. "What's going on with her project anyway? She's been pretty tight-lipped about it the last few weeks."

"She's finally finished designing her initial treatment regimen last month." Barry grins. "She was just waiting approval from the FDA to begin the clinical trials. She got the green light two days ago. They'll start two days after we get back from vacation."

"That's about three weeks before the particle accelerator goes online." Eddie quickly realizes. "Cisco also told me that Dr. Ivy will be testing a new quick-growth plant formula that could help combat the deforestation of the rainforest. Sounds like it will be a big month for STAR Labs."

"It sure does." Barry confirms.

"So where you are taking Caitlin anyway?" Eddie asks, curious.

"To a small town in Maine." Barry says. "Patty recommended it to me last month when I was looking for places to take Caitlin for our one year anniversary. She told me her family vacationed there every year when she was a kid and she still goes there with her mother every year. From what they way she described it, it sounds like it is a nice vacation spot without being over-commercialized. She told me that it was very relaxing and that she thought Caitlin would love it."

"Sounds like a nice town." Eddie says. "Maybe if things continue to go well with Iris, I'll take her there one day."

Barry knew he and Iris had been dating for about a month now.

"Did you tell Joe yet?" Barry asks, eyes locked on Eddie. Iris hadn't told her father about the two of them dating yet, because she thought he wouldn't be too happy with her getting more involved with the police. Privately he thought Iris was overreacting, but he also knew that Iris still hadn't totally forgiven her father for making her drop out of the police academy when she wanted to become a police officer. Still it was only a matter of time before he found out.

"Tell me what?" Joe asks suspiciously as he enters the lab.

"Nothing." Eddie says nervously, turning his gaze away. "Just talking about his vacation plans."

"OK." Joe says with narrowed eyes, unconvinced. He turned to Barry. "But why are you still here? You're supposed to be leaving for your vacation. Patty and Leonard are more than capable of handling this."

"I know, I know." Barry says holding his hands up in mock surrender. "Caitlin just had some last minute things to take care of it at STAR Labs before we left, and suggested that I do the same. But I still feel kind of bad leaving you short changed like this with Kiriko out on maternity leave."

"We'll be fine." Eddie says with a hand clapped to his back. "After all we still have two of the CSIs to cover the lab. You handled the job by yourself for three years."

"I know." Taking one last look at his files, he shuts down the computer, grinning triumphantly. His lips quirks to the side. "Well I guess that's everything. Caitlin told me she'll be picking me up here when she's done."

"Eddie." Captain Singh says, walking into the lab. Barry opened his mouth to speak as the Captain's eyes landed on him but Singh was faster. "What are you still doing here, aren't you supposed to have started your vacation today?" he asks.

"Just double-checking to make sure everything is taken care of before I leave, sir." Barry says.

"OK, have fun on your vacation." Captain Singh says with a pointed look, before turning to Eddie. "Someone was just murdered down by the docks. We need to get going. Spivot is already on her way there."

"You should get going too." Barry says, watching Eddie and Singh leave out of the corner of his eyes. "If I recall you're supposed to be testifying in court today and you don't want to be late."

"Right." Joe says, nods. "Have fun on your vacation."

"I will." Barry says, nervousness flashing over his features. "I just hope everything goes okay."

"Wait, why would you think things wouldn't go okay?" Joe asks, confused but Barry was already turning to leave.

"It's nothing." Barry says, craning his head around to face Joe only to get knocked down by Eddie.

"Oh sorry, Barry." Eddie apologizes, grabbing Barry's forearm to help him up. "I forget to grab the CSI gear."

"No problem." Barry waves it off with a shake of his head, standing with his help.

Eddie glances looks to the ground and notices something lying on the ground. "Looks like you dropped something." he says to which Barry flushes upon realizing he'd dropped his ring box. Not only had it fallen out of his pocket but the ring itself was on display, a simple diamond at the center with a cluster of crystal snowflakes around it.

"Whoa, Barry!" Eddie says in a surprised tone, eyes bright. He bends down and then hands him the box back. Joe quickly gathered by Eddie's side at his exclamation.

"This looks like your mother's wedding ring, only with snowflakes added to it." Joe observes, eyes wide, then added in a slightly confused note. "But it was missing from the evidence lockers when I went to pick up her effects to save for you after the trial was over."

"This isn't my mother's original wedding ring." Barry says, not wanting to get into another argument with Joe today as they usually did whenever the subject of his father's trial came up. "I had a jeweler make a copy of it from some old photos, only I decided to add the snowflakes in honor of Caitlin's last name being Snow."

"That's a nice touch." Joe says, feeling a bit stunned. "You going to ask Caitlin to marry you, huh?"

"Yes." Barry nods thoughtfully. "I'd thought I'd do it on our anniversary of our first date to make it special."

"No wonder you look so nervous." Joe says chuckles. "But I'm sure Caitlin will say yes. She's a great woman and I look forward to officially welcoming her to the family."

"Thanks." Barry says, feeling a bit more confident with his words of encouragement.

"But why didn't you tell us?" Eddie asks, simply curious.

"I didn't want to jinx it by telling anyone before I asked her." Barry explains sheepishly, his hands fidgeting as per his nervousness. "I-"

"Thawne!" Captain Singh's barks voice calls out. "Get a move on."

"Sorry." Eddie apologizes briefly, already jogging backwards out the door. "I have to go, but you have nothing to worry about it. Joe is right, Caitlin will definitely say yes."

As he runs off, Joe opens his mouth to say something else when Caitlin walks into the lab. He quickly shut up, giving the woman a casual smile.

"Hey Barry." she greets him. "If you're finished up here, I'm ready to go. We don't want to miss our plane."

"We sure don't." Barry smiles, quickly closing the box behind his back, and placing it back into coat pocket as Caitlin is saying goodbye to Joe. "See you in two weeks." Barry says, also saying goodbye to Joe.

"Have fun you two." Joe tells them sternly but the intent was anything but stern. As he watches the pair leave, he feels a small pang in his chest. His young boy was growing up to a man and while he was very happy he'd finally found himself a love, he couldn't help but feel a sense of loss as the man he raised would soon be starting a family of his own. Shaking his head out of his thoughts, he headed out of the lab.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the pair arrive at the airport. Barry quickly gets out of the car and starts taking out the suitcases.

"Did you really need all these suitcases?" Barry exclaims. "We're only going to be gone for two weeks."

"OK, so I'm not a good packer." Caitlin blushes. "I mean I pack all the time when going on business trips or medical conferences, but I limit those to work clothes. I haven't ever really taken a real vacation before and wasn't sure what to bring. I'm a bit of a workaholic."

"Me too." Barry agrees. "The captain was very surprised when I put in my request for vacation time."

"Tess was a bit surprised too." Caitlin responds. "But she told me that now would be a good time to take it, as it would be difficult for me to take one during the clinical trials."

"I'm looking forward to those too." Barry laughs. "I'd like to be able to tell all my friends that I'm the world famous Caitlin Snow's boyfriend."

"Oh stop that." Caitlin protests. "Lily is already choosing outfits out for my Nobel Prize acceptance speech. I appreciate the fact that you all think so highly of me, but there's a long way to go before I become a world famous doctor."

"You should be more confident in yourself." Barry says.

"I am confident in my work." Caitlin says. "I just don't want to get ahead of myself. I'm positive that at the very least it will radically slow the progression of Alzheimer's, but whether it will halt its' progression completely or reverse it, only time will tell. But that conversation is about work. From this point on, I want nothing but complete relaxation for the next two weeks."

"You might want to hold off on that complete relaxation, until after we've arrived at our destination." Barry says, thinking about his own experiences with air travel over the past year. As the CSI-cop program grew more popular, Barry and Eddie were often sent across the country to police conventions to teach other departments how to implement it. "I've flown enough flights this past year to know that air travel is a nightmare."

"I know." Caitlin says. "But at least the plane ride will be more pleasant than the ones you're used to."

At Caitlin's insistence, he had booked first class tickets for the two of them. It was a bit pricey, but Caitlin refused to fly coach, saying that she had tried that once and absolutely refused. She even offered to pay for the difference in ticket costs herself, but Barry refused. As per the agreement they made when they moved in together, they agreed to share costs 50/50, not based on dollar amount, but on percentages of their income, since Caitlin made a lot more than he did.

"True." Barry agrees. "First class has to be a lot nicer than the economy class I normally fly in. But it still won't help with the airport security checks."

"Well then we'll agree to start the total relaxation when we land." Caitlin says. "Now let's go."

* * *

A few hours later, the pair had landed at their destination and picked up a rental car. Caitlin had chosen a nice red convertible, and decided to drive.

"So how far is it to the town we're going to?" Caitlin asks.

"According to Patty, it's about an hour or so, depending on traffic." Barry answers, then checks his watch. "It's 4 pm now, so we should get there around 5-5:30. Once there we should check into our inn and then grab dinner. Then we can do some exploring."

"Sounds good. I can't wait to get there. Two whole weeks of fun with no work what-so-ever." Caitlin exclaims happily, then frowns. "You know I've been a workaholic for so long, I'm not entirely sure of what you actually do on vacation."

"I'm the same way." Barry says. "But don't worry, Patty gave me some good recommendations on activities we can do here. And also, I don't think the two of us are that hopeless when it comes to having fun. I mean we had some pretty good times this past year."

"That we have." Caitlin smiles. "I can't believe it's been a year since we first started dating."

"One year next week." Barry replies, the nervousness hitting him again as he feels for the ring box in his pocket. He had already planned out exactly how he wanted to propose to her. Waiting another week would be nerve-wracking, but he had to keep that to himself and relax or Caitlin would know something was up.

"So what recommendations did Patty give you?" Caitlin asks, curious.

"She gave me a list of activities we can do." Barry answers. "The town has a pristine beach and we can go surfing. She also told me there's an amazing costal reef, so we can go scuba-diving. There's also a high cliff where we can go hang gliding and then we can go hiking through the woods."

"Surfing? Scuba-diving? Hang gliding?" Caitlin asks, amazed that he would suggest such activities. "Are you kidding me?"

"Come on, where's your sense of adventure?" Barry replies. "You should be open up to trying new things."

"I don't know." Caitlin says, sounding skeptical. "I'll have to think it over. I guess we could at the very least take some surfing lessons and the hike through the woods sounds like fun. I'll think over the scuba-diving, but I'm really doubtful about the hang gliding."

"Well if you really don't want to do an activity, I won't force you. I want you to have fun on this vacation." Barry tells her. "Do you have anything in particular you want to do on this vacation?"

"Not really." Caitlin admits. "Besides going to the beach and swimming, I hadn't really thought about it. I kind of figured we'd walk around the town and see what jumps out at us."

"Sounds good to me." Barry says. "So did you want to do that tomorrow."

"No." Caitlin yawns. "To tell the truth, work has tired me out so much these past few weeks, I just want to spend one whole day inside just resting without going anywhere. I can't remember the last time I just lounged around inside for a whole day without being sick."

"That's a good idea." Barry says. "You have been looking very tired these past few weeks, which is why I suggested the vacation in the first place."

"You know, we haven't even had sex in the past two weeks." Caitlin laments. Then her tone turns suggestive. "After we get some rest tonight, we can rectify that. I've bought some new lingerie, that I think you'll absolutely love."

"I can't wait." Barry says.

The pair spent the rest of the ride talking about various unimportant things. Another half-an-hour they arrived at the town they were going to vacation in.

"This looks like a nice town." Caitlin observes as the pair drove through the town. "So where are we staying?"

"I rented a small cabin just outside of the town." Barry says. "The town has several of them available to rent. I rented one that is right on the edge of a small lake/large pond. It was a bit pricey, but from the pictures I saw online it's worth it."

As he finishes talking the pair arrive at the cabin in question.

"It looks beautiful." Caitlin exclaims.

"Wait until you see the inside." Barry says as the pair get out of the car. "If the pictures on the website are accurate, I think you'd absolutely love it."

"Wait, where do we get the keys from?" Caitlin asks.

"The person who rents the place comes here and greets us in person." Barry says. "I texted her and informed him of our arrival time and he should be here any minute."

As he says this another car pulls out and a woman around their age gets out.

"Greetings and welcome to Pleasant Cove." she greets them. "I'm Ruby. And I hope you'll enjoy your stay in our town and at my cabin."

"I'm sure we will." Barry says.

"You must be Barry Allan." the woman says, walking over to them. "And you're Caitlin Snow."

"You're correct." Caitlin answers.

"Well I'm glad you chose to stay in our town." Ruby says. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you hear about our town?"

"One of my coworkers, Patty Spivot, recommended it to me." Barry answers. "She told me she and her family vacationed here every summer when she was a kid and still comes here once a year with her mother."

"Oh yes, I know Patty and her family well." Ruby says. "I used to play with her when she and her family visited here."

"So her family stayed in your cabins?" Caitlin asks.

"No." Ruby says. "In addition to renting out cabins, our family also runs a small inn and that's where her family stayed. Speaking of that, I really need to get back as it's almost dinner time and I need to come out."

"We understand." Caitlin says.

"Anyway, here our your keys." Ruby says handing both of them a key. "There are two of them, though I doubt you'd actually need two of them as I'm sure you'd probably like to spend all your time together while on vacation. The kitchen is also fully stocked with the food you requested on our website. And if you don't feel like cooking, our inn service does offer to deliver meals. There are also the names and addresses of several of our nice restaurants on a list on the table inside the cabin."

"Thank you." Barry says.

"Do you want me to help you carry your luggage in?" she asks.

"No, I've got it." Barry answers.

"Well if you need anything, please call me and let me know." Ruby answers. "And once again I hope you enjoy your vacation here."

"Thanks." both Barry and Caitlin answer as she gets in her car and drive off.

"She seemed like a nice person." Caitlin says. "Well let's get in our luggage and check out our cabin."

The pair then opened their truck and began to take their luggage out of the car.

"This place is perfect!" Caitlin says, as she looks around. "It has a nice homey feel to it. The perfect place to relax."

"I'm glad you like it." Barry says. "I don't feel like cooking tonight, so why don't you take Ruby up on her offer and order dinner while I start unpacking?"

"Sure thing." Caitlin says.

As Barry starts to carry the luggage into the bedroom, he can't help but feel like this would be a very relaxing two weeks. Seeing the happy look on Caitlin's face, he feels his nervousness over proposing to her fading and only feels a sense of rightness.

* * *

The following day Caitlin and Barry did indeed stay indoors for the whole day. Caitlin slept for over twelve hours, a testament to how exhausted she had become over the last few weeks finalizing her work. Barry was worried about the toll that continuing to work at that pace would effect her, but Caitlin assured him that the hard part was over. When the clinical trials started, things would slow down significantly. All she and her team would have to do is administer the treatment and then monitor the patients to see if their condition improved. The pair also made love several times, enjoying the fact they for once they had no where to be and had no chance of being interrupted by an emergency from work.

The next day Barry woke up to find Caitlin sitting up, working on her computer.

"What are you doing?" Barry asks. "I thought we agreed there would be no work on this vacation."

"I'm not working." Caitlin insists. "I'm doing research into surfing. If we're going to go surfing today, I want to have a basic understanding of what we're going to be doing."

"That's what we have an instructor for." Barry replies.

"Having an instructor is no excuse for not doing some independent research." Caitlin insists. "I think I've gotten the gist of the basics. Come on, let's have breakfast and then get down to the surf shop to buy our surfboards."

"Buy our surfboards?" Barry asks. "I was thinking we would rent them."

"No, according to what I read it is best to buy your own equipment." Caitlin says, then proceeds to list all the reasons it was preferable to buy the equipment rather than rent it.

"OK, you win." Barry relents. "Although I'm not sure if we can even take surfboards on the plane home, nor what we'll do with them once we get them to our apartment."

"We can figure that out later." Caitlin says as she heads to the kitchen. "I want to get down to the beach so we can start our lessons. After visiting several guides, I've determined the best time for surfing in this area. We'll probably be too late for the optimal surf time today, but considering we're just starting out and will most likely merely be receiving instructions today, it should be fine. But tomorrow I want to get an early start so we can catch the best waves."

Barry just stared at her for a moment. "What?" she asks.

"Yesterday you were expressing doubts about even going surfing, and now you're talking like you want to be a pro surfer." Barry says.

"I never do anything half-way." Caitlin insists as she works on making breakfast. "If we're going to go surfing, I intend to do it properly."

Barry just shakes his head and decides not to argue. He eats breakfast while Caitlin gives him some pointers she found on the internet for beginner surfers. He listened, smiling at how enthusiastic she sounded about the whole thing given that just yesterday she wasn't all that keen on surfing in the first place. After the two finished breakfast, the pair went to change into their bathing suits.

Barry stopped when he saw Caitlin. "Wow!" he says, taking in her appearance. She was wearing a simple two-piece bikini that showed off all her curves. "You look great. I can't believe we've been dating an entire year and I never saw you in a bathing suit before."

"Oh please, don't start acting like a stereotypical guy now." Caitlin teases. "But you look good in your bathing suit too."

Barry was only wearing a pair of trunks, but it showed off his six-pack abs. Since he started working with Eddie and the other members of the CSI-cop division, he had taken to doing the same work-outs that they did to stay in shape. At first he tired out quickly, not used to doing strenuous exercise. But after several months of training with them, he managed to catch up and could now keep up with them with no problems.

A half-hour later, the pair had picked out their surfboards and had headed down to the beach. Barry had wanted to rent them, but Caitlin insisted on buying them, saying that she didn't want pre-used surfboards and Barry relented. Barry let Caitlin do all the talking when picking them out, talking only when Caitlin or the shop owner directed questions at him.

"You really did your research on this." Barry comments as they leave the shop.

"Like I said, I don't believe in doing things halfway." Caitlin smiles. "I also watched some videos of surfing competitions and while I do think it might be a bit dangerous, it also looks exhilarating."

Before Barry can respond, a young man walks up to them. "Hello, I'm Kevin, you're surfing instructor." he greets them. "You must be Barry and Caitlin."

"Yes we are." Barry answers.

"Looks like you already have surfing boards." Kevin says. "And they look to be pretty good ones at that, perfectly tailored to both of you. I thought you said you've never been surfing before."

"We haven't." Caitlin says. "I just did some research on surfing online and it recommended to get surfboards that are the right fit for you."

"That is true." Kevin says. "But having the right equipment is the second most important thing, the most important being your attitude and the desire to be a great surfer."

"To be honest I'm a bit nervous about surfing." Caitlin admits. "But it does look like fun and I believe in giving my all to everything I do."

"Well it's understandable to be nervous when starting out." Kevin assures them. "But I'm sure if you keep a level head and follow my instructions, you'll be surfing like a pro in no time."

"OK." Caitlin says excitedly.

Kevin then proceeds to explain the basics of surfing to the two of them, and helped them to learn how to balance on their boards in calm water. Barry had a bit trouble balancing, but Caitlin appeared to be a natural. After several tries though, Barry was able to get the hang of staying on his board.

After a few hours of instruction and a quick break for lunch, Kevin told them it was time for them to start surfing for real. "I'm going to start you off with some nice low waves and see how you do." their instructor explains. Most beginners don't manage to stay on their surfboard the first few times, so don't worry about wiping out. Just remember my instructions for what to do when that happens."

"Right." the two both agree.

They both head out to where the waves were starting to form and they headed out to surf on them. Barry managed to stay on his boards for a few seconds, but like the instructor said he wobbled a bit and then fell off. He quickly grabbed hold of his board and swum back to the lower water. He then looked around to Caitlin, to find that she was still on her board and was doing perfectly.

"That was so much fun!" Caitlin exclaims as she comes up to Barry.

"That was excellent for a beginner." Kevin says. "Very few people are able to do that on their first attempt. Are you sure you never surfed before?"

"No never." Caitlin insists.

"Well you're a natural then." Kevin replies, then turns to Barry. "You did OK for the first time. But your form needs a little work." He then proceeds to give Barry some pointers,.

The pair surfed for another few hours before taking a break. It took Barry another four tries before he was able to reliably stay on his surfboard, while Caitlin had yet to wipe out once.

"That was really exhilarating!" Caitlin exclaims, out of breath as they return to the beach. "I'm so glad you talked me into this."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, so much." Barry says. "It looks like you were really having fun out there."

"I was!" Caitlin says. "The rush was like nothing

"You weren't half bad, yourself." Caitlin says. "After you got the hang of it, you were doing pretty well too."

"Thanks." Barry says. "But I wasn't half as good as you."

"I can't wait until tomorrow." Caitlin says. "We can come back early and try to get the really high waves."

"I'm not sure I'm really cut out for the really high waves, but I'll give it a shot." Barry says. "In any case I'm starving, surfing really takes it out of you."

"I'm starving too." Caitlin says. "Let's head back to our cabin and get dressed. Then we can see what restaurants this town has."

* * *

Five days later, it was the date of their first anniversary. The pair had spent the previous couple of days doing various things around time. Caitlin insisted on getting up early every day to get down to the beach to surf. Barry did some surfing, but didn't spend as much time in the water as Caitlin did as he wasn't half as good as she was. Instead he just spent time on the beach watching her enjoy herself.

They also did several other activities including scuba diving, attending a local music festival, going to the boardwalk and playing games, which resulted in Barry winning Caitlin a large stuffed Snowman, and going for a hike through the woods.

Barry had decided to take Caitlin out for a moonlit picnic near the lake of their cabin to commemorate their first date.

"So how are you enjoying your vacation so far?" Barry asks.

"It's perfect." Caitlin says. "I'm really loving it, especially the surfing."

At this Barry laughs. "I could tell that. You're quickly becoming an expert. Maybe you should become a pro-surfer."

"Thanks, but I think I'll stick with my day job." Caitlin says, then turns serious. "But there is a surfing competition coming up. It's the day before we're scheduled to leave and Kevin came up to me today and told me that I should enter it. It's not really for pros, but if I enter it, it will take up our last full day here."

"Go for it." Barry insists.

"Are you sure?" Caitlin asks. "I'm sure you'd rather have other things you'd probably be doing on our last day here."

"I can honestly say there's nothing more I would rather do than spend the whole day watching you in a wet bathing suit." Barry says in a serious tone.

At this Caitlin throws a towel at him, and the two both start laughing.

"But seriously, I love watching you surf and not only because of how you look when wearing a wet bathing suit." Barry says. "You also look so relaxed and happy while surfing. I want you to enter the contest. We can just do something extra special the day before."

"Thanks." Caitlin smiles, as she starts to eat her meal. "It's really delicious."

"So, it's time to keep the promise you made last year." Barry says, trying to start off this conversation lightly.

"What promise?" Caitlin asks, confused.

"Last year you told me our one year anniversary you would tell me how much you spent on your shopping spree with Lily and Jesse." Barry says.

"I can't believe you remembered that." Caitlin says.

"I remember everything about that night." Barry says. "But I was just teasing."

"Good, because that's one promise I intend to break." Caitlin says. "There's no way I'm ever going to admit to anyone that I spent over $4,000 for clothes on a single shopping trip." she then pauses and covers her hands with her mouth.

Barry looks at her wide-eyed for a moment before laughing. "I can't believe you spent that much on a single shopping trip." he teases.

"Oh shut up." Caitlin tells him. "I hadn't really gone shopping for non-work clothes for years, so I needed a whole new wardrobe. But I'm swearing you to secrecy. Don't you dare tell anyone."

"I won't." Barry says, as he finishes eating. "Come on, let's go for a walk by the lake."

"Sure." Caitlin says. "You don't have a boat waiting for us there, do you?"

"Sorry, but no." Barry says. "This lake isn't really big enough to go for a boat ride."

"True." Caitlin says. "But it really looks beautiful in the moonlight."

"Not as beautiful as you though." Barry says.

"I also remember you using that same cheesy line on our first date." Caitlin rolls her eyes. "I'm disappointed, you had an entire year to think of one less cheesy or even more cheesy, depending on what you were going for."

"I was going for something memorable." Barry insists. "And you clearly remembered it."

"I also remember afterwards telling me afterwards that you got the idea for the picnic as that was where your father took your mother for their first date." Caitlin says. "That you chose to do that, really meant a lot to me."

"Thanks." Barry tells her. "And it really means a lot to me that you believed me when I told you my dad didn't kill my mom. And it also means a lot to him that you're actually willing to visit him in prison."

"Your father seems like a good man. I really hope we're able to prove his innocence one day." Caitlin says, then decides to change the subject. "So did your father also recreate their first date for their own year anniversary?"

"Actually the two of them spent their own year anniversary stuck in an elevator due to a city wide blackout." Barry says. "They were stuck in there for twelve hours."

"Well I'm glad you didn't choose to recreate that for our one year anniversary." Caitlin jokes.

"Yeah, causing a city wide blackout probably wouldn't be good for my career." Barry jokes back, before turning serious and taking her hands in his. "Caitlin, I want you to know you are the best thing that ever happened to me."

"When we met, I was just floundering in my life. I had no purpose in my life besides my work and finding my mother's killer, but you helped me find meaning in my life outside of work." Barry says. "You are smart, funny, and passionate in everything you do. I can't imagine my life without you in it anymore."

"Um, thanks." Caitlin replies uncertainly. "But where is this coming from all of a sudden?

"I just want you to know what you mean to me. I love you with all of my heart." Barry says, then gets down on one knee and Caitlin's breath catches as she realizes what he is doing. A second later Barry pulls out a small box and opens it up revealing a simple diamond ring. "Caitlin Snow, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Yes." Caitlin says, nodding happily. "Of course, I'll marry you."

She then leaps into Barry's arms and gives him a passionate kiss. When they break apart, Barry slides the ring on Caitlin's ring finger. Caitlin looks down at the ring and studies it. "This is a replica base off your mother's wedding ring, isn't it?" Caitlin asks, having seen photos of his mother wearing the ring. "Except the snowflakes of course."

"Yes." Barry said. "I added them because your last name was Snow."

"That's very sweet. A bit cheesy, but very sweet." Caitlin says smiling. "I love it, it's absolutely perfect."

Barry slides the ring on her finger and she takes a good look at it.

"So when did you want to get married?" Caitlin asks, examining the ring. "Did you want a long engagement or a short one."

"Well I don't want to wait too long." Barry says. "But it does take awhile to plan a proper wedding and we have to find a proper venue. We can discuss all the details after we get back to Central City."

"Sounds good." Caitlin says. "I'm sure Lily will have..." she begins but is drowned out by a flash of thunder and then it suddenly starts to pour down rain.

"I checked the weather." Barry says. "There was no mention at all of it raining tonight."

"Well this is one part of our first date I wasn't planning on reliving tonight." Caitlin says. "We should take it as a good omen."

"You call this a good omen?" Barry asks.

"At least this time we're not in the middle of the lake." Caitlin says. "Come on let's run for the cabin and then we can celebrate our engagement by reliving another part of our first date."

"Yes, Mrs. Alan." Barry says, as he takes her hand and starts to run.

"It's Mrs. Snow-Alan." Caitlin replies.

"Whatever you want." Barry says, as the two enter the cabin to start celebrating their engagement unaware of the challenges that await them and that it will be quite awhile before their wedding actually occurs.


End file.
